The 10th Kingdom
by DigimonDragonLady
Summary: Okay, the rating is for later chapters. This is modeled after the The 10th Kingdom book/mini-series/movie if anyone besides myself has seen that. ^^;; And its Kensuke! Fantasy and Kensuke...what more could you ask for? ^_~
1. A Bit of Bad Luck

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Dragon Lady: _Hi!_

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Ken: _Hello again._

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Dragon Lady: _While I wait on _"Magical Game" _I decided to put this out._

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Ken: ***sighs* **_You all know dl, she just can't keep to one project at a time. _**-_-;;**

Dragon Lady: ***blushes* ^^;;; **_Yeah…um…_***coughs* **_I'm going to keep trying really hard on _"Magical Game", _and_ "Dangerous Games" _is coming along as well. This one should be a little easier though, as I have something to look at to help me._

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Ken: _This fic is not an original idea! So don't go flaming dl and telling her that she didn't think it up herself. Because she takes no credit for the plot. She didn't think it up._

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Dragon Lady: _Sadly this is true. I hope that if there are fantasy fans that read my work, that they are_ 10th Kingdom _fans. _***crosses fingers* **_I only know a few people who have seen it or read it myself. It's a very good book, and an even better movie! If anyone watched it when it first came out it was a five part mini-series on television about a year or two ago._

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Ken: _So dl's modeled this story after it. _**^^;;;** _She had to pick a FIVE part mini-series…_**o.O **_When is she ever going to get all this done?!!_

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Dragon Lady: **^^;;; *ignores Ken's rants* **_I have the movie, and the book. So some things might be word for word here, if I like how the book phrased it. Or some scenes might follow the movie more closely than the book. But whatever the case, I'm sure that my fan fic won't do it justice. If you haven't seen it, go look for it! Anyone who loves fairy tales will love this! Its got new twists that are just the best._ **^_^ **

Ken: _All right. So. Without any further delays. The story._

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Dragon Lady: _Have fun! _**^_^**

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The 10th Kingdom

Adapted for Digimon by: DigimonDragonLady

Ken sighed as he stared out over Central Park from his fifth floor apartment window. Sure, the view was great. Especially at night; the park looked so dark and foreboding then. But the apartment in which he lived, was terrible. Very small, and it could barely be called a two room apartment. More like one small room, and a closet. 

And it was shabby. But shabby was his life. Ken supposed that he should be thankful, after all, they got the apartment for free because of Osamu's job. His brother was the janitor for the building. Or as Osamu preferred to be called, "chief mechanic and fixer of all things _not_ in his job description". Ken was a waiter at a small on the other side of Central Park. 

Things weren't going to well right now. The apartment owner, a snobby parsimonious old man, constantly threatened to fire Osamu and turn them out of their apartment, Ken himself was barely raking in enough money to buy one nights dinner, and his life had become dreary and dull with absolutely nothing to look forward to, at the age of twenty-one. He didn't hold out much hope for the remainder of his years.

Thinking about this brought an old memory to surface. Ken remembered waiting once, on a woman, who was clearly a tourist, and having her say to him, "Oh it must be so exciting, living in New York. How exactly does it feel?"

Ken had looked her in the eye and told her to close her eyes and imagine the most excruciatingly boring and uneventful day that she had ever had, where just everything in the world seemed to go wrong. The woman had done as she was told, a small smile playing over the corner of her mouth as she did so. "There," Ken had said. "Now you have my life in perfect focus."

Speaking of work…Ken glanced down at his watch. He stood slowly, and moved into the tiny kitchen area of the apartment. He set out Osamu's dinner; a plate of barbecue ribs. He put them on top of the microwave. All his brother need do was reheat them. He made sure to always set out Osamu's food, because otherwise the boy might not eat at all, or consume mountains of junk food instead.

With that accomplished he wheeled his bicycle out of the front closet (which was even smaller that the closet sized bedroom), and started out the front door. 

Ken steered carefully around the paint cans and various other tools in the hallway. After blowing one tire on one of the stray nails that Osamu let get scattered around, he'd learned to be more careful around his dearest brothers workspace. He made for the elevator, and encountered his brother in the hallway just outside of it.

Osamu had the call box open, and the wires were dangling from it. The elevator doors were jammed open with his toolbox. And so Ken's way to the street and outside world was effectively blocked.

He didn't notice this, of course. Osamu was alerted to Ken's presence when he coughed slightly. "Look at this," he instructed, holding out a wire for him to see. Ken rolled his eyes and obediently studied the wire, all the time pretending to be extremely interested in it.

"This," Osamu proclaimed. "Has been gnawed."

Oh, great. Rats eating the wiring. That was all his life needed now. With his luck, the rodents were probably congregating in their apartment as they spoke. He wondered though, why if it were truly rats at the wiring, why he hadn't seen any furry electrocuted bodies lying around. But he wasn't going to comment on it. Osamu would have a theory.

His brother always had a theory. Ken didn't have to prompt him to get him to tell him his theory. Osamu seemed to always have a speech prepared. He'd simply been waiting for the proper audience. Ken.

"This isn't my job, you know. This is an electrician's job. But who has to fix it?"

Ken gave a small inaudible sigh. This was the part where he was supposed to respond, _You, Sam_. But he didn't.

Osamu shoved the wire back in the box and frowned at him. "Where do you think you're going?" he asked.

"To work, Sam," Ken replied dryly. "Like I do every day."

Osamu's frown deepened at his tone, and he stuck an "Out of Order" sign on the wall above the open wiring box, then with a sweeping motion bade Ken to enter the elevator. Ken carefully wheeled his bike in and turned it around, giving his brother room to follow him and get to the control panel.

Osamu did something to make the elevator doors close, and they started down slowly. Ken always began each work day with a prayer that the elevator would not break down on him, as it was often out of order.

"Take the stairs on the way back," Osamu told him as he stared at the mess of old wires in front of him. "…Just in case."

Ken nodded absently, not really paying attention to the warning. "Your barbecue ribs are on top of the microwave," he said suddenly, as if just remembering. 

Osamu frowned. Perhaps that hadn't been the right response. Ken didn't care. "I can't believe all the things I have to do today. I've got to look at the boiler again. There's air in the pipes," he explained. "The system needs to be drained and bled, there's a leak in number nine apartment, and now this elevator." As he spoke the elevator to which he was referring shuddered to a stop.

"Take the stairs on the way back," Osamu said again, glancing around the inside of the elevator as if extremely unsatisfied with its performance. 

Ken was going to be late for work if he didn't hurry. "I'll see you later, Sam," he said, giving his brother a small backwards wave and wheeling his bike quickly out of the elevator death trap.

Ken thought for a moment that he had made good his escape when his brother said, "Don't go across the park." Every day he would say that. And every day Ken would ignore him. "You hear me? You promise?"

And so Ken did as he did every day, and said, "Sure, Sam."

She was almost to the door.

"Have you got a jacket? Its windy out there. You'll catch a cold!" He should have looked earlier if he were that concerned. But Osamu had other, more important things than his brother's health to worry about. Like how to fix the elevator and boiler and get money to buy food for the two of them.

Ken didn't bother to answer him. Just waved again. Finally, he was at the door. Osamu's voice came floating back to him as he exited the building. "What have you left me for dinner?"

* * *

Prince Yamato was leaning out the window of his carriage on his elbow, with his head propped up on his hand. It was bothering him that he had to be in such a stuffy old carriage when he could have been enjoying the beautiful day outside. Hunting maybe. He eyed the woods wistfully. There would be plenty of game in the forest. And he'd much rather be chasing it than stranded here with his royal escort.

"Where exactly are we going?" Yamato asked in the most obviously bored voice he could manage.

"The Snow White Memorial Prison, your majesty," his manservant, Giles, answered.

Wonderful. Doom and gloom would be all he'd see when he could be enjoying the sunshine and fresh air. Splendid indeed. "Is it much farther?" he complained. "Couldn't we stop and go hunting?"

"We shall be there very shortly, sire," was the only reply he got.

Yamato sighed in disgust. It figured. After a few minutes of allowing his mind to wander aimlessly over more interesting subjects he returned his attention to what Giles was saying.

"Your stepmother has applied for parole again," he was saying. "Which will, of course, be turned down. This is simply a routine courtesy visit."

Yamato nodded absentmindedly and moved his attention once again back out the window, where he could see the Snow White Memorial Prison in the distance. In what seemed like no time at all, the carriage was pulling up at the prison's enormous doors.

Yamato frowned in irritation. Where was everyone? The last time he had visited, the prison governor had had a whole crowd of people there to greet him, waving and cheering. While the warden and his guards waited to escort the prince inside. "Not exactly the red-carpet treatment," Yamato muttered to himself. "Where is everyone?"

"I'm sure they can't have forgotten about your visit, your majesty," Giles responded. Giles was halfway to the door before Yamato exited the carriage, and then proceeded to join him on the front step.

His manservant pounded on the knocker loud enough for it to be heard two Kingdoms away. Yamato found the old man's anger on his behalf incredibly amusing. 

The door opened. Yamato heard it more than saw it, because at the time he was glancing over the prison grounds. Then he turned forwards in time to see his servant stumble backwards, bleeding at the neck. Someone had cut his throat!

Instantly, Yamato was alert, but he was startled when someone grabbed his arm and yanked him inside. Yamato tried to pull himself free, but he couldn't. The grip on his arm was much to powerful. The door was closed behind him, and he had to blink several times before his eyes became accustomed to the gloom of the prison's interior.

Yamato was in trouble now. He was standing before a group of trolls, hideous looking creatures, but whom to him, didn't seem incredibly bright, who flanked his stepmother, the Queen.

He was in trouble now. The entire Nine Kingdoms were in trouble now. Unless he could do something. But he didn't know what that something might be. Oh, dear.

* * *

Ken sat up very slowly. His entire body ached, it felt as if he were on fire, but his forehead ached the most. He'd fallen off his bike before, or course, but he'd never crashed and burned like this. He hadn't seen the dog run across his path until it was too late.

When he put a hand to his forehead, it came away sticky with blood. He stared at the blood on his fingertips for a moment, as if contemplating what to do about it. Ken decided that it was just a cut, and prayed that it wasn't bad enough to need stitches.

One glance at his bike told him that he would be late for work, but at least he'd have an excuse this time. The front wheel was completely buckled. There was no way to ride it, and no way to fix it. At least, not here.

The damage to his bike must mean that he'd hit the dog pretty hard. Ken looked around for the animal, that he just barely remembered seeing some minutes before, and found a pile of golden fur lying beside the path they were on. It wasn't moving.

"Oh, my God," he said. "I think I've killed it." 

Ken felt like he was going to be sick to his stomach right then. He'd never before in his life killed anything, not even accidentally! As he moved towards it, the dog twitched. Ken let out a soft sigh of relief. So it wasn't dead after all. The dread he'd been feeling instantly disappeared. 

When he put a hand out to run through its soft fur, the dog looked up at him with surprisingly intelligent eyes. The dog's eyes were a bright blue, and in the moonlight, seemed almost to shine. Ken frowned. Blue eyes? How unusual.

"Are you all right?" he asked the animal, as he searched through its fur for any broken bones, or blood; for any injury that would require immediate care. He didn't find anything.

His hands moved around the dog's neck, but of course, the dog didn't have any kind of a collar. Some people were so irresponsible with their pets, he frowned. "So you haven't got a collar, hmm?" he asked. Great. A stray. But he looked so well cared for, that he had to have an owner somewhere.

The dog seemed reassured by his voice. 

Behind him, Ken heard a low, wolf-like howl. The hair on the back of his neck prickled with fear. Even the dog seemed alarmed at the sound. Then he realized just how bad his position was. Injured and alone in the park after dark, in a secluded wooded area. There were no real wolves in Manhattan, but the human wolves were very dangerous indeed.

Ken looked at the dog and he looked back. Apparently they now belonged to each other, at least for the night, until she could find his owner. He got up, picked up his bike and straightened its mangled wheel enough so that it could be wheeled along beside him.

The dog stood with him, and as he hurried out of the park, he followed faithfully along.

* * * 

Things didn't look good for Prince Yamato. Following along at the heels of some stranger, who'd just run into him with the most bizarre and strangest metal contraption he'd ever seen. It was unheard of! How utterly humiliating for royalty such as himself!

He was acting like a common street animal. But what other choice did he have? This young man certainly couldn't understand him, as he was a dog. And would he believe him even if he could? Something told Yamato that no, this was one human who was not used to having strange things happen to him.

It was embarrassing that he was sticking to this person like glue. But, again, what else could he do? He didn't understand where he was at all. It was a enormously hideous new world. There was a terrible smell upon the air, as if someone was burning to many lamps in one place, and the noise was incredible to his sensitive dog ears.

And he'd heard the wolf. The man must be hot on his trail at that very moment. And Yamato couldn't allow himself to be caught. The safety of his Kingdom depended on it!

He turned his thoughts back towards the events that had occurred in his own world, maybe an hour earlier…

~* * * * * *~

"You're a long way from your castle, Yamato," his stepmother began speaking. "Perhaps you should have stayed there." The Queen was smiling her secret little smile. Yamato swallowed hard. He'd never forgotten that smile.

"You'll pay for this," he stammered. 

The Queen laughed. It was a soft laugh, which made it all the more menacing. "On the contrary. I think you will beg at my feet."

Then Yamato noticed the dog beside her. "Do you know what this is?" she asked, stroking the dog. "It's a very special kind of dog. Magical, of course. I hope you like dogs, Yamato. You're going to spend the rest of your life as one."

From that point things had happened in a blur of motion. She'd released the dog, and it had rushed at him, not fiercely as if attacking, but instead, as if in play. But Yamato had backed away regardless. Damn her, she knew he hated dogs. 

When the dog jumped up on him, placing its front paws on his chest, Yamato began to feel very odd indeed. It was as if the room he was in was spinning, and very fast. He felt dizzy and sick, and things and faces began to melt together. He felt almost loose inside of his own body. Like…he wasn't attached anymore.

He was shrinking, and things were growing dimmer. While there wasn't as much light, things in the room had gotten much louder. And his perspective had shifted. Previously he had been facing towards the Queen and staring down at the dog. Now he was looking at…his own sash? That didn't make any sense. How could that happen?

Curiously, Yamato glanced up, and saw his own face. Oh, no. He didn't like the way this was looking at all. Afraid, he glanced down and saw that his own hands were feet. Hairy feet. Golden hairy feet. He…he had become the dog! He whirled and glared at his stepmother.

He tried to shout at her, "You'll never get away with this!" Instead, he barked. Wonderful. He was a dog, and he couldn't be understood.

The dense looking trolls around the Queen applauded when he barked. Yamato growled at them. The trolls began to laugh and clapped even harder with their clumsy hands.

The Queen's own smile, had faded. "Grab him!" she ordered.

Yamato did the only thing that he could think of as the trolls started towards him. He wheeled around and ran from the room down a long, dark corridor, towards who knew where. Deeper into the prison he went.

He wasn't very good at running as a dog. His new tail made it awkward for him, but he soon got the hang of it. One picked up things quickly, he supposed, when in fear of one's life.

He had absolutely no idea where he was going. His heart was pounding, and he was hopelessly lost.

He could hear the trolls behind him, shouting and making the most outlandish noises. Did they honestly think they could catch anything by being that loud? Yamato frowned, even though he could hear them as if they were right behind him, he could tell they were still a long way off. Interesting, he'd always been told dogs could hear better than humans. Now he knew it.

Yamato came to some stairs ahead. Good. Down. Maybe there would be a back exit! Or perhaps he could find somewhere to hide from the trolls. A dog-sized hiding spot. They definitely weren't the sharpest knives in the drawer, that was for sure; he could tell that just by listening to them.

He dashed quickly down the stairs. His nails clicking and paws slipping madly on the narrow stone steps. 

"Out of my way, amateurs," he could hear a new voice saying. It clearly was not a troll. "This is a job for a wolf."

A wolf? A talking wolf? Someone his stepmother had set after him. Apparently she didn't hold much faith in the trolls either. Weren't wolves superior to dogs? So much for hiding in a small dog-sized space. The wolf would smell him out in no time at all! He began to panic much more than he already was.

Yamato was so preoccupied with this bad new turn of events that he didn't even notice when he came to the end of the stairs and ran head long into an enormous pile of junk. The whole thing came crashing down around him, pottery breaking and smashing and making a horrendously loud noise. 

The Prince, in his new dog body, went sliding across the smooth stone floor uncontrollably before he finally came to stop at a large mirror at the end of the room. Or rather, he crashed into that as well.

It was a full length mirror with some kind of elaborate design on the frame. AS he looked at it, the silvering shifted. "He's over there!" He dimly heard one troll shout. Oh dear, they'd find him any minute now. That wolf had to be much closer…

As he stared at it, an amazing world opened before him in the mirror. First an ocean, and then a statue of a large green woman holding a torch. He continued to stare at it in disbelief. 

The image before him kept shifting and changing. Now it showed a bridge, and a city like none that he had ever seen before. Buildings made of smooth stone reached for the sky and crowded together. There were so many lights reflected from it, that it was hard to look at just one thing in detail.

The footsteps coming towards him had gotten very loud. Yamato's heart was pounding. Someone had gotten close. The wolf? There was no other way out of this room. And no place that he could hide from a wolf. If he wanted any chance at safety, he had to go through that mirror.

"What's going on here?" the wolf demanded. Yamato caught a glimpse of him from the corner of his eye. Lean and muscular with reddish colored hair. 

This was it. If he wanted to escape, it had to be now. He turned once more towards the mirror. The image before him was now one showing a grassy place. It looked manicured, but it was full of trees, and much better places to hide. Yamato gathered what little courage he had left, and jumped through the mirror.

~* * * * * *~

And doing that had, of course, brought him to this man. And he now knew that the wolf had followed him. And possibly the trolls after him. He was in great danger. Maybe, just maybe, he could find some way of conveying to the young man who walked before him what had happened. Maybe…

Oh, this really didn't look good.

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Dragon Lady: _Whoo hoo! Yamato the dog prince. Dog formerly known as prince. _***giggles* **_Sorry. That was the title given to part one of the book. Of course I'm no where near done with part one here._

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Ken: _Obviously._

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Dragon Lady: _Daisuke's our wolf, by the way, if anyone didn't figure that out, and we'll get some Kensuke/Daiken going in the next chapter hopefully. And lookie, nice long chapters here. _**^_^ **

Ken: _Funness. _**^_^**

Dragon Lady: _Okay, well…that seems to put him in a better mood. _**^^;;;**

Ken: **^_^**

Dragon Lady: _So, what did you think? I know people keep hinting at me for some Taito, and while I love that coupling myself, I find it much more difficult to write for; and the way I've set up the characters, this story just lends itself more easily to Kensuke…but I'll see what I can do. But Yamato fans should be happy, because he has a nice big part in this story. _**^_^**

Ken: _Reviews would be nice._

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Dragon Lady: _Yes. Plenty of nice reviews! …Please? _**^^;; **_And I'm really sorry, I didn't want to end it here, but it was the only reasonable place to cut it off. Otherwise this chapter would have gotten much too long. The whole thing is going to be incredibly long. I mean, we're probably talking around twelve some chapters at the least. I don't want it to be that long. But its probably going to end up that way. _**-_-;;**

Ken: _See. I told you this was a bad idea. But no. You wouldn't listen. And now you're stuck. Because you know people aren't going to let you quit on this._

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Dragon Lady: _Shut up, Ken. _**-_-;;**


	2. Wolves and Trolls and Princes, Oh My!

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Dragon Lady: _Part Two! Whoo hoo!_

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Ken: _Uh huh._

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Dragon Lady: _And I am really pleased to find that there are some more 10th Kingdom fans on ff.net! And_ _10th Kingdom Kensuke fans! Which makes it even better!!_ ^_~

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Ken: **^_^**

Dragon Lady: _All right, there's sorta Daiken in this chapter. Sorta. But I keep having to cut the chapters off earlier than I want to. Sorry._ **^^;;**

Ken: _Patience will pay off on this story. _

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Dragon Lady: ***agrees with muse* **_And, a note to the people who know the 10th Kingdom really well. I'm changing a couple of things. The wish thing is getting majorly changed. So when its not how you remembered it, or liked it, I'm sorry. _**^^;;;** _Everyone else is going to have to read to understand what I even mean by the wishes, so…_

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Ken: _Best get to it._

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Dragon Lady: _Yep. That's right. _**^_^**

Ken: DigimonDragonLady _doesn't own Digimon. Or The 10th Kingdom._

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Dragon Lady: _Hope you like this chapter! _**^_^**

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The 10th Kingdom

Adapted By: DigimonDragonLady

Ken had almost made it to Grill on the Green, the restaurant where he worked as a waiter, when the thought occurred to him that he must have been unconscious long enough to be mugged while he lay on the path. He did a quick search through his pockets, and groaned. His wallet was missing. Could anything else go wrong that night?

While his wallet had disappeared from his pocket, Ken was pretty sure that he had not been relieved of it by some dime a dozen crook. He still had his keys and his watch, and if someone was going to steal from him, they would most likely have taken those items as well.

As close as he was to the grill, Ken almost turned back towards the park. He bit his lip. "My wallet…" he sighed. He looked towards the park. What harm would it do to turn back? He was already late for work. Maybe going back now wouldn't hurt…

When Ken took a small step in the direction from which they had just come, the dog glanced up at him with a look that might have said that he was questioning Ken's better judgment. But a dog couldn't do that…could he? Ken decided not to worry about it. But the dog was looking at him as if he were crazy…and maybe he was.

"Leave it," Ken spoke aloud to himself. "You'll never find it now." He began walking once more towards the restaurant, and the dog trotted to keep up with him.

When he made it into the kitchen, Ken was more than a little tired. He was completely exhausted. And his evening had barely begun. Now, came the hard part. The cook ignored Ken as he walked by the grill, which was customary, the man rarely spoke to anyone; but then Jun came in.

She spotted Ken, and let fly, just like Ken knew she would. "Where have you been?" she demanded. "I've been covering for you--"

Then Jun stopped speaking for a moment. She had almost reached Ken at this point. "Your head! You're bleeding!" she exclaimed, almost in an accusing tone, as if she were silently berating Ken for doing dangerous things on purpose.

Ken moved away from her quickly, so that Jun wouldn't touch the wound, and irritate it. "I smashed my bike," he said. "And I lost my wallet. And, I picked up a new boyfriend," he gestured to the door, rolling his eyes as he found a clean damp cloth with which to clean the blood from his forehead.

The dog was standing there in the doorway, he looked groggy and a bit overwhelmed. Ken couldn't blame him, the kitchen was a mess of noise and smells, not all of them pleasant either. 

"Oh, aren't you just the cutest!" Jun said, as she hurried over to crouch beside the dog and pet him. She didn't even comment on Ken's calling him a "boyfriend". She had know that Ken preferred the male sex to females almost as long as she had known him, and sometimes on their off time the two of them went "guy spying" at the local mall.

"I hit him with my bike," Ken explained. "But I'm pretty sure he's okay."

He watched Jun. The girl seemed to have as serious dog fetish. She was ruffling the fur around the dogs face, and the dog himself was looking both baffled and tortured.

"Don't let the boss see him," Jun advised, but Ken was already wise to these words of caution. "What's his name?"

Ken shrugged. "He doesn't have a collar, so I don't know."

Jun just stared at the dog for a moment, then said, "Well, you look like a Prince to me." She was addressing the dog of course. "Hello there, Prince." She continued to pet him.

Observing the dog, Ken had to admit that the name she had picked did sound appropriate. It just seemed to fit, for some reason.

* * *

The trolls had come through the mirror, and had been very surprised at what they found. They had dubbed this new world as the "Tenth Kingdom". But they were now once more hunting for Prince Yamato.

"There!" one of the three cried, and the rest hurried forward.

There was the smell of blood, and dog. There were also metal things lying about on the ground. "There's been an…incident." They snickered maliciously.

One of the trolls spotted the wallet lying in the grass beside the path they were on. "Lookee look!"

They emptied it of its paper contents, picking through it and examining the leather pockets. They picked up a white square of paper that had fallen out, and squinted their beady eyes at it.

All three read together slowly, "If found please return to Ichijouji Ken. Apartment 17a, No. 2, East 81st Street." They grinned at one another.

Finally. A destination.

* * *

Daisuke stood, staring around him in wonder. There was just so much to see! And so many smells! Some of them unfamiliar to him. "Well, huff-puff," he said in admiration. "What a place!"

Now he was doubly glad that he had decided to serve the Queen. If only to see a place such as this!

But thinking about the Queen brought Daisuke's thoughts back to the mission at hand. Find the Prince. And he would. He sniffed the air, labeling and identifying all the scents that he could as he picked them up.

However, one smell in particular caught his attention and drew his interest more than any of the others, and made his stomach growl in complaint. "Meat," he sighed, and breathed the smell in deeply.

When was the last time he'd had real meat? Steak? Just meat. He couldn't say. Prison food definitely left something to be desired, that was for sure. He stared longingly at a place where much of the good food smells were coming from. Grill on the Green?

Daisuke hesitated. Could he stop to eat, for just a minute? Surely it wouldn't hurt. He knew the trolls were out there looking for the Prince as well. And he didn't want for them to be the ones to finally take the dog to the Queen, because that would be embarrassing for him…but…food. His stomach was demanding immediate attention.

Before he could stop himself and rein in his restraints, he had crossed what was left of the forest and grounds, and entered the door. He looked around at the diners. 

"Don't forget what you came here for," he instructed himself sternly. "Find the prince. Find. The. Prince," he said severely. But he glanced longingly around at all the food. "Oh…but, I can't work on an empty stomach, now can I?"

A woman seated at a table nearby watched him as if in annoyance and partial disgust as he stood talking to himself.

Oh, he could smell all kinds of mouth watering things. Steak, chicken, fish. Lamb. And over those, he was getting another scent. A familiar one. Daisuke's eyes widened in disbelief. He _couldn't_ be that lucky!

"I smell dog!" he exclaimed. The prince was here!

He shot a glance at the woman nearby and saw her removing a piece of steak she had almost put in her mouth. Oops. Maybe that wasn't the thing to have said out loud in a restaurant. Still. Served her right. The lady deserved it. That would teach her to give him funny looks!

Ah, Daisuke sighed. Work and pleasure combined. This job _was_ getting better and better all the time.

* * *

Ken decided to lock the dog in the back storage room. It would keep the animal from inadvertently being discovered by his manager. "Don't make a sound," he instructed sternly. "If you make any noise, you'll get me the sack."

So, of course, Prince barked.

Ken frowned at him. "Quiet!" he hissed. "Or I'll put you outside!"

Oh, the dog didn't seem to like that idea at all. Even less than he liked being holed up in a small stuffy back room, in fact. Prince sat there looking so sad and forlorn, that he almost seemed that if he were human, he would be crying.

Ken fought down the urge to apologize. The dog just acted so _human_. He had even looked disgusted when Jun had shoved a bit of hamburger meat under his nose. Regal. That was how he acted. Like royalty. The name "Prince" surely did suit him.

He walked quickly out of the room, shutting and locking the door behind him, to avoid the guilt he felt when he stared into those expressive blue eyes.

Now, it was time to get to work. Jun, of course, had taken the cute male customer that had just walked in. (The two of them had a competition for when they working together. See who could get the most phone numbers of cute guys. Probably not the best competition to carry out in the work place…but still.) That left Ken with the table full of rowdy people who practically screamed trouble. He sighed. Best get to it.

While his customers ordered drinks (they were all big beer drinkers, of course), Ken kept stealing glances at the man Jun was serving. He was very handsome and roguish looking with rusty red hair. He seemed somewhat odd though, as he was speaking to Jun at a mile a minute. Ken was sure that he was imagining things, but somehow this man didn't seem quite human; just like Prince didn't seem quite dog-like.

A loud crash from the kitchen area made him leave his group of customers halfway through their orders, with hastily muttered apologies as he sped off towards the back. When Ken had hurriedly unlocked the storage room door, he found the floor of the room covered in flour. Prince sat beside the mess, wagging his tail hesitantly; his paws and muzzle covered in the white powdery substance. 

Ken sighed in irritation. Just great. "Bad dog," he scolded. "Now just look at what I have to clean up because of you."

It was then, as he let his gaze travel over the mess, that he caught the crude message scratched into the flour. It read, simply, _Danger_. 

Ken looked at the dog, then to the message, and back again. A thought was forming in his mind. "No," he shook his head. He stared hard at Prince. "NO way," he said again very firmly.

Still…there was intelligence in the animal's eyes. Undeniable intelligence. Hell, there were some men who didn't have eyes as intelligent as that. And he was staring back at Ken with such intensity that he just couldn't ignore him.

"So, I suppose you'd have me believe that you did that, hmm?" Ken raised an inquiring eyebrow. Prince barked, and Ken frowned. It couldn't be! Dogs couldn't spell…could they?

Fine. He'd play along. "Bark once," he commanded.

Prince barked once.

All right. "Okay then, bark twice."

Prince barked twice.

Ken stared even harder. "Can…can you understand everything I'm saying?"

Prince barked once.

"All right! Stop it!" Ken ordered him, unnerved. This was so completely ridiculous. And yet…

"Who's in danger?" he asked, after a very long silence. "…Both of us?"

Prince barked again, and then went to the door, whining at Ken. He turned his head and gave Ken a pleading look. As if to say, _Let's leave now_. 

"This is just unbelievable," Ken muttered. He looked back at Prince. "And I can't believe that I'm letting a _dog_ persuade me to leave work. But…you want to go, Prince? Fine. Come on, lets go."

Ken didn't even bother to say goodbye when he left work. He sighed as he made his way down the streets. The evening had just been much too strange…

* * *

Jun mentally sighed as she stood there, serving pad in hand, and tried not to let the boredom she was feeling show. The man whom she was serving had gone off on an enormous tangent. He'd been having trouble deciding just what it was he wanted from their menu. And all she'd done was tell him about the day's lamb special. Now he was yapping something about fluffy sheep and shepherdesses, and all she could do was stand there dumbly and nod at him.

When he paused for breath she quickly jumped in with, "So it's the lamb, right?" There were other customers waiting for service, so she couldn't just stand there all night.

"Oh, yes. Absolutely!" he replied. Then he blinked, as if remembering something. "Oh! I almost forgot! I'm looking for this wonderful young man who I believe found my little doggie…"

Jun smiled. "Oh, so he's _your_ dog. Ken was really worried about what to do with him. He's out back. I'll tell him."

She hurried away, and Daisuke got up and followed her. Through the kitchen they went, and then to a back room. Then Jun noticed him. "Hey, you can't come back here--"

Daisuke ignored her and pushed his way into the store room. That was definitely the Prince's scent. There was a very strong smell of dog here. But there was another scent underneath it. Very faint and delicate. Tantalizingly beautiful. The dog had obviously found a helper.

It was then that he saw Prince Yamato's message written in the flour on the floor. He silently cursed and rubbed it out with his shoe before Jun could catch sight of it. So the Prince had found a way to communicate as well. Well, no worries. He'd still catch him easily enough. 

Jun was frowning. She had obviously been talking about something this whole time, and Daisuke hadn't been paying attention. "Maybe he went home. He did hurt himself when he fell--"

He. That's right. Jun had mentioned a he. A Ken, he of the lovely scent.

"Oh, poor little sausage," Daisuke said sympathetically. "Where does he live then, this lovely young man? I can't wait to thank him."

Jun gave him a nervous smile. "Well…I can't really tell you where he lives, you know, I don't even know who you are…"

Daisuke's rich brown eyes flashed hypnotically. "Don't worry. I'm a very trustworthy person," he assured her with a grin. "You can tell _me_."

* * *

When Ken finally gotten to Osamu and his apartment he couldn't believe his eyes. He knew something bad was going on when he found half of the population of his floor out cold with some kind of pink powder all over them. This made Prince extremely nervous, and he had cautiously sniffed one of Ken's neighbors with the pink dust, and had then backed away quickly. But when he got to his actual apartment…

The door was splintered open and looked like it had had an axe taken to it. Ken wondered what on earth Osamu was doing for fun that night. The apartment owner was going to kick them out if he did things like that…

"Wait here," he instructed Prince. "I'm going to go see if Osamu is okay."

Prince just whined a little.

Ken crept cautiously into the dark apartment. "Osamu?" he called. He saw his brother asleep on his chair in the family room, or basically the only room apart from a bedroom in the apartment. He was covered in the same pink dust that everyone around seemed to be covered in. Only the light of the television illuminated his sleeping face. 

"Osamu?" Ken whispered. "Wake up…"

Ken didn't want to be too loud. He might attract the attention of an unwelcome visitor that was still hanging around…

He tip-toed to the bedrooms, and peered around. His eyes widened in disbelief at the site that greeted him. There were these big, hairy…things, tearing his room apart!! He accidentally made a startled noise, and they whirled around to face him. Ken swallowed nervously as they advanced.

"Wh-what did you do to my brother?!" he demanded shakily.

The things looked at each other and muttered things that Ken couldn't really understand. Something about troll dust. So these things were supposed to be trolls? They kept advancing. 

"Where's Prince Yamato?!" One demanded back of him.

"He's wanted by the Queen!"

"Where's the dog?!"

"Tell us where the prince is!"

Ken shuddered as one of them reached out a huge hairy arm, and grabbed his wrist. "I-I don't know what you're talking about…" he stammered. Then he swallowed hard when he caught sight of the glint of a silvery knife held before his eyes.

"The dog!" they growled. "Tell us where the dog is!"

"The-the dog?" he gasped. "Oh! The dog! He…he's just outside the apartment."

"Show us! You'll show us!"

Between the three of them Ken was dragged into the hallway. Prince was no longer there, which was good, because Ken had never really intended to give the poor dog to these creatures.

"Where?!" they demanded. 

Ken was shaking as he pointed to the end of the hallway, right at the elevator. The thing was still malfunctioning, now more than ever, Osamu must not have finished fixing it earlier. The doors were opening and closing on their own.

The…trolls…were again muttering strange things, and upon being pointed towards the elevator started exclaiming about magic.

"There!" Ken gasped out, still pointing. "He's in that room. He's just…hiding."

They dragged him farther forward, until they were all four of them in the elevator. "Lies!" they howled, looking around. "You lie!" they accused Ken.

"N-no!" Ken shook his head, pointing to the elevator control box. "I-I've just…got to operate these buttons so that…that the secret door will open, and show you where he is."

He began jamming all the buttons, and as the elevator doors started to close, he slipped out. The trolls tried to force their ways through the door, but Ken grabbed a fire extinguisher off the wall and rammed it on their hands. They let out howls of pain and the doors closed, trapping them inside.

Prince had come into the hallway at this point, and was watching the spectacle. Ken looked at him and sighed. "Come on, I'm not staying here. I don't know what all this is about, but I'll take you to stay with me at Mimi's."

* * *

Osamu woke up slowly. He wondered why, he'd been having such a peaceful sleep, but something had obviously intruded upon it. The sound of the doorbell. That was it. The doorbell was ringing.

And ringing.

And ringing.

"Whatever it is," Osamu grumbled. "I don't want it."

There was a man outside his door. A man that he didn't recognize. How come Tony could see him through the door? Osamu sat up slightly, and rubbed at his eyes. He really had to wake up.

"Good evening," the man smiled brightly at him as he stepped through the door. Oh. So that was why Osamu could see him. Someone had taken what looked like an axe to the door. Hadn't that been in his dream? The door splintering? Not that it mattered at the present moment, there was a stranger in his apartment.

The strange man was frowning around. "Trolls have visited you first, I see."

Trolls? Osamu frowned in confusion. What was going on here?

"No matter," the man was saying. "My name, is Daisuke, and I have a proposition for you. Tonight, and only tonight I am authorized to make you a unique offer. Mainly the end to all of your personal and financial problems."

A scam artist. Osamu scowled and crossed his arms. "One more step, and I'm calling the cops," he threatened.

Daisuke grinned. Osamu swallowed, trying not to exhibit his nervousness. 

"Three magical wishes, my friend," Daisuke continued as if he hadn't heard, or understood him. He took out a case and waved it in front of Osamu. "Three."

Three wishes? What? It was like he was in some kind of bizarre fairy tale. But he wasn't in a fairy tale. He was in his apartment. 

Daisuke was no longer paying attention to him. He'd found a framed photograph of Ken, and had picked it up, studying it. "Is this Ken?" he asked.

Osamu blinked. What did this guy know about his brother?

"This can't be him!"

"Why not?" Osamu wanted to know.

"Well he's gorgeous!" Daisuke responded. "I mean…Wow!"

Osamu frowned. Was this another one of Ken's boyfriends? Why did that boy always go for the weird ones? And he wasn't quite sure he liked Daisuke talking about his brother like that.

"Tasty or what?" Daisuke asked himself, running his hands over the smooth glass of the picture frame. For a minute he looked as if he might actually want to…as ridiculous as it seemed…eat Ken. "Where is he?" Daisuke inquired of Osamu.

Yeah, right. Like Osamu was going to tell him that. Especially after that last look. And Daisuke had just been examining the picture. Osamu was sure he didn't want this guy anywhere near his little brother.

"He…he's not back from work yet."

Daisuke tilted his head to the side and then shook it reprovingly, as if he had just caught Osamu in a horrendous lie. "Oh, no. He's been back all right. I can smell him."

Smell him? Where did Ken pick up these loosers? Osamu wondered. This one was a complete weirdo. "Well…" Osamu hesitated. How did he know that Ken wanted to see this man? "Wait a minute," he frowned. "What do you want him for?"

"Oh, nothing bad," Daisuke said. "Simply to reclaim my little dog that he found earlier in the park."

"Your dog?" Osamu frowned suspiciously.

Daisuke nodded. "There's even a reward," he said. "Which I intend to give to him myself." 

Osamu narrowed his eyes a little. He didn't like the sound of that. While he didn't doubt that Ken could handle himself, he just didn't really trust this Daisuke character. But Osamu made the mistake of staring too long into his eyes. They were deep and brown, and shadows seemed to drift lazily across them. He found himself wandering why it was that he didn't trust such a seemingly nice person as Daisuke. After all, he only wanted to get his dog back…

"If he's not at work, he'll be at our cousins house." Osamu frowned at the thought. "She's always trying to turn Ken against me."

"Does this cousin…like…flowers?" Daisuke wanted to know.

"She likes money," Osamu answered dryly. "That's the only thing that will impress her."

"Address please," Daisuke said, shoving a scrap of paper at him, and Osamu found himself writing down Mimi's address. He watched Daisuke slip Ken's photograph into his pocket, but he didn't protest.

Daisuke snatched the piece of paper from him and deposited a little box in his hand. "Just breathe in," he instructed a dumbfounded Osamu, and the magic will do the rest."

Then, before Osamu knew it, he was gone.

* * *

Ken unlocked the door to Mimi's apartment, and put a finger to his lips so that Prince would know to stay quiet. Not that he seemed to like barking anyway, but still, just to be on the safe side. As he was closing the door, Mimi's voice came drifting down the hallway.

"Who is it?" she called. She was in her bedroom.

Ken walked down the hall and pushed her bedroom door open. "Just me, Mimi," he told her.

Mimi blinked at him. "Oh, hello Ken," she gave him a flowery little smile. "You know, for just a minute, when I heard the door open…I thought you were your mother."

Ken frowned to himself, was Mimi drunk again? Hm…maybe not. Of course she had been very found of his mother, almost more so than her own mother. And Mimi's family had been the ones that helped Osamu and Ken when their mother left. Of course, Osamu had never liked it with them. He and Ken had moved out when they got their first chance of being on their own.

"Sorry to disappoint you," he said softly.

"She'll come back one day, you know," Mimi said firmly. "She'll just…swan in, without a word."

Ken nodded, but he highly doubted it. "Mimi, is it all right if I stay the night with you?" he asked with a sigh.

"Why just stay the night?" she asked with a sly smile. "Why not come and live with me, Ken? You could have much more space here than in your brother's cramped little apartment. _You_ could be something in society. You've got your mother's looks." 

"I'm a waiter, Mimi," Ken explained slowly. He'd said it a million times before. He didn't _want_ to "be something" in society. 

Mimi went on as if she hadn't heard a word. "My debut at the Ritz Carlton was like a coronation," she said with a dreamy sigh. "And your mother…at seventeen she was so beautiful that it hurt to look at her. She could have had any bachelor in New York. But who did she end up with?"

Ken knew this script. "Dad," he replied. While Mimi's whole family had loved his mother, Mimi most of all. They had never approved of his father. But that didn't matter, because he had died even before Ken's mother left them.

"I rest my case," Mimi said. 

"So is that a 'yes, Ken, make yourself at home'?" Ken asked. "Because I could really use some rest, and I'm not getting it at my house."

"Yes, yes," Mimi waved at him, once more absorbed in her magazines. 

"Thank you," Ken said shortly, and lead Prince from the room. "Maybe now, we'll have some peace and quiet."

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Dragon Lady: _Poor Ken, does anyone really think he's going to get any peace and quiet? _**^_~**

Ken: _I feel sorry for me._

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Dragon Lady: ***giggles* **_I'm going to love writing the next chapter. More Daiken stuff is going to come up. A lot more. _**^_^** _Which makes me happy!_

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Ken: _Obviously it makes the reviewers happy as well, as basically all you write is Kensuke. If it didn't make them happy they'd be flaming, not reviewing. _

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Dragon Lady: _Oh, right. _**^^;;;**

Ken: _You're right dl…these ending notes are getting shorter and shorter every time we rant._

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Dragon Lady: _Yep._ **^^;; **_Is that good or bad? Who knows? _

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Ken: _Review please. And then dl will come out with the next chapter. _

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Dragon Lady: _Which is going to be so much fun! _**^_^ **_Oh, and if it says 'she' when I'm talking about Ken, sorry about that. I think I noticed that I did that a couple of times in the last chapter…The character I'm using Ken for in the 10th Kingdom is female, and I'm looking at the book for help…so…yeah. _**^^;;**


	3. A Wolf Comes Calling & Wishes Go Awry

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Dragon Lady: _All right! Here we go, chapter three!_

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Ken: _This got done surprisingly quickly._

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Dragon Lady: _Yep. _**^_^ **_I'm moving on this story. Its encouraging to find out that there are more 10th Kingdom fans out there that really want to see this._

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Ken: _I guess so._

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Dragon Lady: _So here comes the fun chapter! _**^_^**

Ken: _Lots of Daiken coming up in this one._

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Dragon Lady: _The good stuff. _**^_~**

Ken: _So dl doesn't own Digimon. Or the 10th Kingdom._

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Dragon Lady: _In this chapter we get to deal more with Osamu and Daisuke than Ken. It follows their characters more at the moment. But I love Daisuke's character, he's my favorite. Wolf was just such a cool person._ **^_~** _And Osamu's character is shaping up nicely for this story. _**^_^** _Funness!_

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Ken: _Dl hopes you enjoy the chapter._

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Dragon Lady: _Yep. Yep._

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The 10th Kingdom

Adapted By: DigimonDragonLady

Daisuke frowned, and looked down at the scrap of paper that he held in one hand. And then glanced back up at the apartment number. "This must be the place," he muttered. 

He shoved the paper back into his pocket and attempted to smooth down his hair. Making sure his appearance was as near to perfect as he could get it, he rang the doorbell, clutching the enormous bouquet of flowers he held tightly. 

It took a moment, for someone to come and answer the door. But he heard the tell-tale padding of feet on the floor, and soon the door opened, just enough for the person to look out.

Daisuke blinked. Huff-puff! If only there were shepherdesses that were as beautiful as this girl, all wolves would be in heaven. Wolves who…um…actually wanted to eat a pretty young thing. That wasn't the sort of thing that he did though…

This must be the aforementioned cousin. "Good morning," he greeted her cheerfully.

"Good morning," the lady responded, politely puzzled. "Is there…something I can do for you?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, there is." Daisuke's smile brightened when he thought about how very close he was to meeting the Ken who's beautiful scent he had had the pleasure of following for a day. "Excuse me, miss, but these are for you."

Daisuke presented the flowers with a little flourish. The girl was so surprised that she actually forgot for a moment that he was a perfect stranger, and let go of her hold on the door, to accept his offering. "Oh!" she smiled, breathing in the aroma. "How beautiful!"

"May I come in?" Daisuke asked, taking a small step forward.

The girl was instantly alert again. "Wait a minute, who are you, and what exactly do you want?" she demanded.

"Well, I was looking for my dearest Ken," Daisuke explained. "His brother did say that he could be found here…I hope I'm not mistaken."

"Ken?" she asked. "Oh, yes…he's here."

"Wonderful."

"That still doesn't explain anything though…" the girl frowned.

"Why I am Ken's suitor, of course!" Daisuke exclaimed. He held up the picture of Ken that he had taken from the Ichijouji apartment and kissed it. Then he had to kiss it again, just for luck.

"Suitor?" the girl asked with a frown, but she was obviously coming around. "That's funny…Ken didn't say anything about a new boyfriend last night…"

Daisuke's ears perked. Ken did like men? That's what he'd been hoping to hear. He had thought that he did, from hints that he had picked up from the waitress at the Grill on the Green, and the young mans brother, but he hadn't had his hopes completely confirmed until now. Wonderful! He knew that he must be in love with this young man that he had even yet to meet, and he was sure that Ken would fall in love with him as well. They would make a perfect couple!

Uh oh, this girl didn't seem to happy about the idea of one of her cousins "boyfriends" show up on her doorstep. She obviously didn't approve of her cousins choice in relationships. Daisuke acted quickly.

"How like, Ken!" Daisuke said. "How modest! Most people would boast and brag about dating the heir to an enormous fortune, but not Ken. Please follow his example and judge me on my personality, not my society connections."

That did it. The young woman undid the chain and pulled open the door. "Do come in," she offered. "I'll just get dressed."

"Oh, you don't need to change; you look perfect as you are."

She smiled at him. Daisuke didn't find her half as beautiful as Ken, but maybe he was just a little biased. Daisuke found himself quickly giving in to his wolf instincts and in no time at all Ken's cousin was bound and gagged in the kitchen.

"Oh," Daisuke whimpered to himself. "I can't believe I'm doing this. I'm being so completely bad. I know I should untie you…" he directed this last comment at Mimi, who immediately nodded her head frantically.

"But, my dear, its not my fault that you look good enough to eat…" Daisuke sighed dramatically. He was playing with a kitchen cleaver.

"Mimi?" a voice called through the apartment. "Are you awake yet?"

Daisuke blinked. Ken was up! He heard a rustling sound in the far bedroom. He slipped quickly into the hall and into an open doorway that just had to be the cousin Mimi's room. Daisuke made a face at the amounts of pink things there were in it.

He crawled quickly under the covers. 

"Mimi?" Ken called out again. Ken's voice was lovely. As lovely as his photograph.

"In here, Ken darling," he called out in a high squeaky female voice. Trying to sound as much like his cousin as possible.

"Do you want some coffee? Toast?" He was getting closer. He was in the room now, and Daisuke could hear the squeak of his shoes as he walked on the hard wood floor.

"Mmmmmm…." Daisuke said, keeping his voice as high as he could.

"Have you got a cold or something?" Ken asked.

He was right near the bed. He could smell him. Ah, that wonderful fragrance. It was so much better up close. The covers flew back. "Surprise!" Daisuke shouted, leaping up.

Ken let out a yell and leapt backwards away from him. Daisuke whipped out the cleaver and-- froze, struck by the vision before him. Ken was tinier than Daisuke would have thought he'd be. Delicate. His beauty was profound.

"Boy, oh, boy," Daisuke blinked, staring at Ken. "You're fantastic. Your picture doesn't do you justice. Wow!"

Then he noticed the cleaver that he'd had in the kitchen was still raised in his hand, and Ken was staring at it, and him, in horror. In all honesty, he'd forgotten that he held it. In fact, he didn't know why he held it. What had he been thinking?

"Oh, no," Daisuke said, dropping the cleaver unto the bed as he spoke. "How did this get here?"

Ken was backing toward the door. He sprang out of bed to stop him.

"By the way," he said, "where _is_ the dog?"

Ken dove for the door, but Daisuke got there first, bounding across the room and trapping him. Sometimes, his little wolfy talents came in handy.

"You smell divine, Ken," Daisuke told him. "I've had teasers of your scent before, but in the flesh…words cannot describe! And you…ohh, Ken, you smell like Sunday lunch."

"K-keep away from me," Ken managed to say.

"All the right stuff in all the right places…no doubt about it, I am in love," Daisuke sighed in pleasure of the moment, closing his eyes.

Ken grabbed a vase from a nearby table and broke it over his head. Daisuke felt the impact, the shards of glass falling around him, but it really didn't faze him at all. In fact, it might have knocked some sense into him. He'd have to wait a while to make certain of course, but it felt that way.

Ken yanked the door open while Daisuke stood there, slightly stunned, and ran down the hall. Daisuke waited a moment, and then followed. He wasn't quite sure why all the people in this family were so afraid of him.

When he found Ken again, he was just opening a window of the apartment and looking down, as if he were thinking about jumping from it. He backed away quickly when Daisuke came down the hall. Ken really looked terrified of him. He'd have to be if he wanted to jump from a second floor apartment to get away.

"Let me put your fears to rest," Daisuke said. "Now that I've seen you, eating you is out of the question! Not even on the menu."

He cocked his head slightly to the side to see what effect his words were having on Ken. The young man did not seem reassured at all. Daisuke frowned. "Now, this is going to come out of the blue," Daisuke said. "But how about a date?"

Ken grabbed a broom that had been leaning against a door. He held it out in front of him in a threatening manner, brandishing it as if he actually knew what he was doing. Daisuke doubted he did, from the way his hands were shaking as he held it.

"All right," he said, "we've started badly." He reached for Ken, but he got whacked on the side of the head with the broom. The stick cracked against his skull. All right, now that hurt.

He frowned, trying to remember what he had been saying. Oh, yes. "But I take all the blame for that."

There. That should soften Ken up. Daisuke took anther step closer, and this time Ken rammed the broom into his lower stomach. Daisuke doubled up in pain. Now that was definitely not necessary. Not necessary at all.

"Oh, come on, at least give us a chance," he said, when he had recovered. "You are one dynamic guy, no question there."

Ken took a firm hold of the broom in both of his hands and swung it like a club. It hit Daisuke under the chin and sent him flying backwards. At the last moment, Daisuke remembered that Ken had opened the window earlier, and he tried to reach for the sides to prevent himself from falling through it. 

But it didn't work. He fell backwards for a long way. As he fell, he saw Ken peek out the window, grimace, then close it. He landed softly on a pile of garbage bags. Right before he blacked out, he thought he heard Ken yell.

"Oh, my God! Mimi!"

* * *

Osamu frowned. He still didn't quite understand how this wish thing was supposed to work. He was living in some bedtime story fantasy tale here! This was New York city. Strange men didn't just come to the door everyday looking for your brother and offer to give you three wishes for his whereabouts. 

Osamu seriously hoped that Ken was okay. He didn't know what had come over him. Daisuke…his eyes had just…and…

He blinked and shook his head. He would have gone hunting for his brother, if not for the fact that, one, he was at Mimi's house, and Osamu couldn't stand their cousin, and two, whatever Daisuke had done to him, still held some effect, and he was absolutely fascinated with what he could do with three magical wishes.

Of course, he had already followed the directions that he had been given. When he had opened the box it had been like drowning in the smell of rotten eggs, old fish and all other manner of unpleasant things. How was inhaling the scent of some garbage going to help him get three wishes?

Well…Osamu shrugged. "Might as well test this wish thing out," he decided. He thought for a moment. Lets see…three wishes… "All right wish master, how about a million dollars?" he asked.

Barely a minute after he'd spoken, the front door (which he'd had to fix earlier before his boss saw it), buzzed at him. Osamu went to open it, hoping to God that it wasn't Daisuke again, because there was no one that he wanted to see less.

He opened the door to find that there was no one there. But there was a big, old fashioned, bulging carpet bag on the ground. Osamu frowned, and opened it. When he had, his eyes widened in pure disbelief. The bag was full of money! His wish had come true!

* * *

Daisuke had had dreams of bacon, the guy of his dreams, and…falling? He opened his eyes. It took a moment for him to realize where he was. His head ached. Small wonder why, after falling out of that open window. The building from which he'd fallen out of loomed in front of him like a nightmare. He couldn't even tell which window was Ken's anymore.

Slowly Daisuke got to his feet and brushed himself off. He'd had a plan earlier…but whatever he'd hit his head on must have knocked it out of his brain. He frowned. Well he had to do something. He wandered aimlessly to the nearest door and stood, trying to get his bearings.

A woman approached him as he stood there. She wore large glasses and had her blondish gray hair pulled back away from her pale skin. She looked much to smart for him…er…a wolf to eat.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"Oh, I hope so," Daisuke said. "I'm very confused."

"Of course, you must be Paul's referral. I'm Dr. Horovitz. Paul told me you'd probably drop by to make an appointment."

"Can you tell me what I'm doing here?" Daisuke asked.

She smiled at him. "Let's get to know each other a bit before we tackle the big question. Okay?"

That was okay with him, he thought, although he wasn't sure why. What had he been planning? A roast? It all seemed hazy to him.

Dr. Horovitz unlocked the door to her office. He glanced at the sign as he followed her through: DR. MARIAN HOROVITZ, PSYCHOANALYST. He had no idea what that meant, of course, but a man didn't fall out the window and land at a doctor's feet without needing help. Maybe he was injured. Maybe she could fix it.

She flicked on a light switch, revealing a dark-paneled room full of books. A leather couch smelled of a meal too old to be edible. She sat down a cup of liquid and some type of pastry that she had previously been carrying on a wooden desk and pointed to the couch. After a moment, he realized that she meant for him to sit on it.

He did, gingerly.

"It is better if you lie down," she said.

Daisuke tilted his head at her. It seemed like a kind of strange request to him. Still, he lay down partly because he wanted to see what she'd do, and partly because he was still a bit woozy.

She sat in a leather chair and folded her hands in her lap. "Now, then," she said. She had an accent he didn't recognize. "I'm going to say a word, and I want you to give me the first word that comes to your mind."

Daisuke grabbed a pencil from a nearby table. The wood felt good in his hands. Then he stuck it in him mouth. Sometimes he just needed something to chew on. Dr. Horovitz was looking at him expectantly. What had she said? Words. She'd say one, he'd say one.

He could do that. So he nodded.

"Home--" Dr. Horovitz said.

"Cooking," Daisuke replied.

"Coward--"

"Chicken."

"Wedding--"

"Cake."

"Dead--"

"Meat."

"Sexual--"

"Appetite."

"Love--"

"To eat anything fluffy!" Daisuke snapped the pencil in half. He was more nervous than he thought. Dr. Horovitz was staring at him. He shrugged. "Sorry, I know, more than one word. Start again."

* * *

Osamu looked at the money. Oh the ways that they could use this. "That's it," he decided. "I'm going out to find Ken, and we'll figure out what to do about this."

He went to open the front door-- and jumped back as a group of police officers-- SWAT team members, it looked like-- scurried in, all holding large guns pointed at him. Osamu's eyes widened in surprise.

"Hands behind your back. Now!" A policeman shouted as they pushed Osamu toward the wall. They trapped him there and turned him around. Somehow he'd dropped the bag of money in the process.

"What's going on here?" Osamu demanded. This was his apartment (as small and pathetic as it was) and he'd be damned if he was going to let more people (even the police) barge in on him. "What have I done?!"

"Here's the money from the robbery," one cop said. He'd obviously found the carpet bag. 

"No. No. No," Osamu said. "There must a mistake. This money just appeared outside my door!"

An officer grabbed his hands and yanked them behind his back. He wanted to protest that that hurt, but thought better of it. They held his hands there and slapped handcuffs on him. The metal was cold against his skin, and bit into his wrist.

Then the cops turned him around. Several of them were going through his things. Personal papers, bills, and stuff. 

"I haven't left my apartment all morning!" Osamu shouted at them. "You've got the wrong man!"

The cops looked at each other as if they didn't believe a word he said. Osamu knew that he was screwed. Damn, that Daisuke! If he ever saw him again…!

* * *

Ken got off the bus. He was still tired. Prince was still following him, and he wished that he wouldn't. Everything had been strange from the moment he'd met him. Every crazy person in this city seemed to be after the dog!

He turned down the block to his neighborhood. There were more cop cars parked outside than usual. Maybe they'd finally caught those strange Troll people he'd locked in the elevator. He'd wait until they finished whatever they were doing, then he'd try to contact his brother.

He'd been meaning to talk to prince anyway. Ken stopped near the entrance to the park. Prince stopped too, his tail wagging expectedly.

"This is it," Ken said. "This is where we say good-bye."

Prince barked twice, his sign for no.

"Oh, yes," Ken replied. "Since you've entered my life, I've been attacked by Trolls and a wolf, and my cousin would probably be happy for the rest of her life if she never saw me again! And I can't go home either."

Prince stood at the edge of the park. Ken waved a farewell at him.

"That's it" Ken said to the dog. "Hasta la vista. Sayonara. Shoo."

Prince didn't move, and neither did Ken. He couldn't just leave him there. But he had to. Things were just too weird all of a sudden. This dog had to be his new worse luck charm.

Ken sighed in defeat. "Okay, this is the deal. I'm going to take you back to exactly where I found you, and then we're going to go our separate ways. Okay?"

Prince barked twice. Ken ignored that and walked into the park. He followed the trail that he usually took to work. It wouldn't take long to find the scene of the accident.

"Look," Ken said as they walked along. "I'm not the adventurous type. I'm just a waiter. This is way too scary for me, thank you very much. Whoever these people are who want you, they can have you."

As they got closer, Prince ran in front of him, tail wagging. For a dog that had been reluctant to leave Ken a few moments before, he certainly was happy to be here. There were scrape marks in the grass where his tires had skidded, and a tuft of hair near one of the branches. Dog hair.

"Okay, we're here," Ken said. "This is where we really do have to say good-bye."

Ken backed away from him. Prince turned those lovely doggy eyes on him-- human eyes, actually-- and stared at him plaintively. Then he barked twice. It was as if Ken were abandoning him to horrors not even he could imagine.

But he had to.

It was for the best.

Or so he tried to believe.

* * *

Osamu's arms hurt. They felt like they were going to be pulled out of their sockets. He was surrounded by the police.

One of the cops shoved him forward. Osamu stumbled, and became aware that the officer was speaking to him. "If you cooperate and give us your dealers name," the cop was saying, "maybe we can put in a word for you."

Osamu shook his head. "What dealer?" he asked. "I'm not on drugs!"

Okay, so maybe telling them that a strange man appeared to be after his brother and had given him three wishes for disclosing his location _hadn't_ been the brightest of ideas that he had ever had…

"Yeah, sure you're not," was the only reply he got.

Great. Just great. Why did things like this never happen to the rest of the world? Osamu wondered. Why just him?

They shoved him into the stairwell. Apparently they had already discovered that the elevator in this building wasn't to reliable. He had to concentrate on keeping his balance on the stairs. There was no way out of this. Everything had gone weird since those creatures had smashed through his door. And letting Daisuke talk him into taking those wishes. What a curse it had been!

Well, at least he'd learned something through all this. The experience was teaching him the power of unthought-through wishes. So he kept his lips pressed tightly together and concentrated on surviving the next few minutes.

He'd never sat in the back of a police car before, especially not with his hands cuffed. He was thinking about his predicament as the car traveled slowly down roads toward the police station.

"What have I got to loose?" Osamu asked himself. He thought for a moment, swallowed hard, and sighed. Two wishes left. Well, he wouldn't get to use any of them if he didn't get out of here.

"Okay, I wish I could escape from this police car, right now."

The cops laughed. Then the driver went very pale. 

"Paul," the driver shouted. "The brakes have failed!"

Oh great! This wasn't what Osamu had meant. He prayed fervently for his life as the car shot through a red light, scattering pedestrians as it went. The driver fiddled with the wheel -- didn't they teach cops how to stop moving brakeless vehicles in cop school? -- and the car hit the curb, going over it and slamming into a store window.

Glass tinkled all around them. Osamu blinked twice. He wasn't hurt. But the cops were. They were out cold. He stared at them for a moment before realizing what he had to do.

* * *

A glorious place. Daisuke had no idea who had come up with the idea of having all the books in the world in one place, but it was fabulous. Someday when he wasn't looking for Ken, and chasing Prince Yamato, he would come back here and read everything on food -- an entire section! -- and cooking and spices and…

But he already had more books than he could carry. He had them balanced under his chin and he was still trying to catch one or two as they slipped.

The woman beside him, the "clerk" as she'd said she was called, still looked a bit overwhelmed. Apparently she'd never met anyone who wanted to read _everything_ in the self-help section before, at least not at once. But Dr. Horovitz had been very helpful to him, and had recommended lots of wonderful books.

"You've been very helpful indeed, miss," Daisuke said to the bookstore clerk. "Thank you very much. And if my plan is successful, I will certainly invite you to the wedding."

She smiled at him uncertainly and slipped down another one of the aisles. Daisuke walked towards the main door. That was funny. The window of the store -- which had been fine when he came in -- was broken, and one of the mechanical horseless carriages he'd seen all around the city, was stuck in it. That was the problem of attempting to steer without the benefit of a horse, Daisuke shook his head sadly.

Lots of people were crowded around it, and the men in blue were trying to get out of it. "Stop that man!" one of the men inside yelled.

Daisuke focused. The man was pointing at a very familiar figure who was sprinting toward the street. Hey…wasn't that Ken's brother? Osamu? 

Better and better. What luck running into him here! Daisuke smiled, and ran toward the door, still clutching his books. A different clerk reached out to stop him. "Sir, have you paid for those?" she asked, but Daisuke ignored her. He was too busy to deal with another clerk. He had to catch Osamu!

He ran through the small barricade before the door and sirens went off. But he couldn't stop now! Osamu looked like he was heading for the park, and Daisuke ran after him.

* * *

It was hard to run with his hands cuffed behind him, but Osamu was doing a pretty good job of it. He occasionally lost his balance on the trail, but he never fell. Running track in high school had really paid off now.

His breath was coming in harsh gasps as he went off the regular path to use Ken's old shortcut. The trees were a little thicker here, and he felt a little safer because of it. Not much, but enough.

As he rounded a corner, he saw someone who looked suspiciously like Ken, crouching in front of a dog.

"Osamu?" The boy called out.

"Ken?"

"Sam!"

All right, that was definitely Ken. Osamu ran to him, not wanting him to shout any more. The police would hear.

It only took a second for Osamu to reach him, but it took about a minute for him to catch his breath. When he did, he said, "You won't believe what's happened to me!"

"Don't bet on it," Ken replied dryly.

He was standing next to the dog, which was watching him with eerie bright blue eyes. Weird people, weird wishes, weird dogs. Somehow it all made sense in that one instant.

"Is that the dog these weirdo's want?" Osamu asked. "Just give him back. Please?"

"I don't think he is a dog, Sam," Ken said, and his brother didn't miss the unspoken "no" in his words. "He's been trying to talk to me, I think, but I can't understand what he's saying."

Well, he could solve that, and probably find out why this damn dog was so important. "Watch this," he instructed, moving Ken out of the way and crouching down in front of the dog himself. He stared into the dogs eyes and said, "I wish I could understand everything this dog is trying to say."

Ken looked at him as if he were as crazy as the people running around right now.

Osamu ignored the look.

The dog twitched his head at him. "You're in terrible danger, both of you!" the dog said. He had a surprisingly aristocratic voice.

"It worked!" Osamu exclaimed.

"What?" Ken asked.

"If you value your life, you have to do exactly as I say," the dog said. "We have to find the way back."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

****

Dragon Lady: _Dun. Dun. DUN! _**^^;;;**

Ken: _Hey! You can't leave off there! That's inhuman! _****

Dragon Lady: _Oh, give me a break Ken, stop you're whining. I'm getting about a chapter out a day. It won't be that long. And for you people who have never read or seen the real 10th Kingdom, it gives you time to use your imaginations. _**^_~**

Ken: ***snorts* **_Whatever. I'd rather just read the next part._

****

Dragon Lady: ***is exasperated* **_You already know what's going to happen!_

****

Ken: ***stubbornly* **_So?! I want to read the next chapter!_

****

Dragon Lady: _Too bad. You'll just have to wait._

****

Ken: _Cruelness!_

****

Dragon Lady: _Tough. You'll live._

****

Ken: ***sighs* **_Review please. Tell her to hurry!_


	4. Through The Looking Glass

****

Dragon Lady: _Here we go. Chapter Four. _**^_^**

Ken: _All right, we're finding out more! _**^_^**

Dragon Lady: _Sorry. I meant to have this up earlier, but I was delayed by a bit of manual labor…_

****

Ken: _Isn't household cleaning a pain?_

****

Dragon Lady: ***agrees* **_Especially when it interferes with a perfectly good fan fic. _**^^;;;**

Ken: _But it doesn't really matter, because its up now._

****

Dragon Lady: _Yeah it is! _**^_^**

Ken: DigimonDragonLady _doesn't own Digimon. Or The 10th Kingdom._

****

Dragon Lady: _Especially not The 10th Kingdom. I wish I could have come up with that… _***sighs longingly***

Ken: _So…anyway. Here's the next chapter._

****

Dragon Lady: _As promised._ **^_^**

Ken: _We hope you enjoy it. But I have a feeling you're going to hate the end of it…_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The 10th Kingdom

Adapted By: DigimonDragonLady

"He's talking!" Osamu said, pointing at the dog. "Ken, he's talking, can't you hear him?" The dog gave him a patronizing look, as if to say, 'well of course I talk'. Ken just gave him another funny look.

"No," he said slowly, as if he were addressing an elderly person who's feelings he didn't want to hurt. "I can't hear a word."

"Well he is!" Osamu insisted. "He said that we were in danger and that we have to follow him."

Ken frowned thoughtfully. "That's funny," he murmured. "That's the same thing he was trying to tell me…"

"I thought you just said that you couldn't hear him talking!" Osamu scowled at his brother.

"He wasn't talking when he was trying to tell me that," Ken told him, rolling his eyes. "At least, not in any words I could understand. Prince spelled out the word "danger" in the flour he spilled on the floor at Grill on the Green."

"Prince?" Osamu asked.

"Well…that's his name. Jun named him."

"Excuse me," the dog, Prince, spoke again, interrupting their conversation. "But, weren't you listening to me the first time? I said, if you value your lives, you have to do exactly as I say."

The sound of tramping feet made all three of them hide themselves in a big bush off of the little path. "These woods are swarming with policemen," Ken whispered in confusion. "I wonder if those troll people have escaped," he murmured.

Osamu looked a little guilty, and it was then that Ken noticed. "Sam…why are you wearing handcuffs?" he asked. Then he groaned. "You're running from the cops? Wonderful! And just why, are they after you?"

"They think I did a major bank job or something…" Osamu shook his head. "Oh, I'll explain later."

"Would you two stop rabbiting for one minute and help me find the mirror?" Prince growled at them.

"Mirror?" Osamu asked, looking at him. "What mirror?"

"It's a magic mirror. It will send me back to my home. I can't do anything here, like this, now can I?"

"Um…I guess not," Osamu agreed uncertainly. He shrugged at Ken. "We're looking for a magic mirror," he explained.

"Of course we are," Ken replied with a sigh.

"It's a mirror," the dog said to Osamu. "But it may not look like a mirror from this side. You'll have to look very carefully. Look for a piece of the forest that doesn't fit," he instructed. "I'm sure that I came through somewhere around here -- there! There it is. Look."

Osamu looked at the copse of trees the dog was staring at but saw nothing except undergrowth and trees.

"Over there," the dog said. He sounded exasperated.

"Yeah, there is something weird…" Osamu frowned. It was almost as if there was a blank spot in the trees. A pulsating blank spot the size of a full-length mirror. As he got closer, he realized it wasn't blank. It was black.

Ken stopped beside his brother and looked too. He bit his lower lip. Osamu squinted. It looked as if there were a room beyond, a room full of tumbled down junk. "What is it?" he asked.

He never got a chance to have his question answered.

"There they are!" a voice exclaimed.

They all glanced over their shoulders. Three of the ugliest looking beings Osamu had ever seen in his life were on their trail. "The trolls!" Ken exclaimed. "They did escape from the elevator!"

Osamu wasn't as worried about the trolls as he was about the twenty or so policeman that were running their way behind them. "Follow me if you value your lives," the dog said as he jumped into the mirror. The image winked out, and then reappeared.

"Do as he says," Osamu said, shoving a protesting Ken forward toward the mirror with his shoulder. "Quick."

Ken jumped through the mirror just as Osamu did. It felt as if he had jumped into wet rubber. All the sounds of Central Park vanished, even the heavy beat of the police chopper that had been circling overhead, and suddenly he stepped into the room he had seen through the opening.

It smelled of dust and mold. There were metal dishes scattered everywhere and ruined curtains, and several broken chairs. It was worse than the storage room in the apartment building, Ken decided.

"Where the hell are we?" Osamu whispered.

"I don't know," Ken replied. "But I'm pretty sure it's not Central Park."

"We're in the southernmost part of my kingdom, where I was attacked and turned into a dog."

The dog lead them into the corridor and down a long narrow hallway. "This is the Snow White Memorial Prison, housing the most dangerous criminals in all the Nine Kingdoms."

"Back up a second," Osamu said. "The nine what?"

"Kingdoms." The dog stopped walking and rose on his hind legs. The movement was oddly formal. "I am Prince Yamato, grandson of the late Snow White and soon to be crowned King of the Fourth Kingdom. And who might you be?"

Osamu glanced at Ken who, since he couldn't hear the dog, had no idea what he was saying. Osamu stood up a little straighter too as he replied. "I'm Osamu Ichijouji, janitor." He tried to give that last word with as much dignity as possible, but it still didn't come out sounding well. "And I think you already know my brother Ken."

"Is that dog talking again?" Ken asked.

The dog -- Prince Yamato -- Osamu couldn't believe that he believed him, but he did -- went down on all fours and cocked his head. "Sshhh," he said. "I can smell the Trolls."

"Sshhh," Osamu repeated to Ken. "He can smell the trolls." Ken merely rolled his eyes in response.

But they could all hear the tell-tale clomping of feet in heavy boots coming their way. All three of them hid behind some barrels just in time. The trolls had apparently come back through the mirror. They were walking through the same hallway. When looking at them, it was hard to tell if there was any specific gender in trolls.

They were mumbling nonsense. Didn't they ever stop? Ken wondered. "What shall we do when we have our own Kingdom?" one asked.

"Servants," replied a second. "We must have hundreds of servants."

They continued planning their dream kingdom, which all seemed a little odd to Ken. Until they passed, and their voices faded as they went up a flight of stairs. Osamu, Ken, and Prince Yamato emerged from their hiding places.

"We must find my step mother's cell," Prince Yamato declared. "Perhaps there's a clue as to where she's gone with that dog in my body."

Ken peered over his shoulder as if he preferred going back through the mirror to going deeper into this place. But he followed along when Osamu gave him Prince's instructions. Prince Yamato led them up the stairs, and suddenly Osamu realized they were indeed in a prison, for it hadn't looked like it at first. There were cell doors everywhere and high dark corridors. The guards, though, were all asleep on the ground, pink dust on their faces.

"What's happened to everybody?" Osamu asked curiously.

"The same thing that happened to you earlier," Prince Yamato said. "Troll dust."

No wonder his apartment had been so filthy. The very memory of the stuff made Osamu want to sneeze. One warder rolled over and snored in his sleep.

"Its beginning to wear off," the prince told them, not sounding particularly thrilled about the idea.

"Sam, let's go home," Ken begged.

"I can't go back yet, now can I?" Osamu answered snappishly. Sometimes Ken could be so inconsiderate. "The police are swarming all over Central Park looking for me."

"I hope they don't find the mirror then," Ken snapped back. "But we really can't stay here…" He tugged his jacket tighter around his neck. He clearly wasn't comfortable.

Well, neither was Osamu. He didn't like the idea of staying here any more than his brother did. He had run into a prison to escape going to prison, and for some reason he didn't like the irony in that.

Prince Yamato lead them around a few more columns into what appeared to be the main prison dinning room. It was, thankfully, empty off any of the inhabitants of the prison. On one wall was a giant map. Prince Yamato leapt up onto a nearby table as Osamu and Ken walked closer to the map.

It was hand drawn and prettier than any of the maps they were used to. A big red arrow pointed to an area marked Snow White Memorial Prison, and beneath the arrow, it said, YOU ARE IMPRISONED HERE. Well, at least they were polite in this place. Prince Yamato had said that he was the soon to be crowned king of the Fourth Kingdom, which was marked in green. It was a long, thin strip in the center of the map, bordered by all the other lands.

Ken peered closely at the map, reading it aloud, "The Troll Kingdom. Red Riding Hood Forest…"

"What is this place?" Osamu asked Prince Yamato. "Is this like Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella and fairy stories and stuff?"

"Well, the Golden Age was almost two hundred years ago, when the ladies you refer to had their great moments in history," Prince said. "Things have gone downhill since then. Happily Ever After didn't last as long as we'd hoped."

Osamu didn't like the sound of that. If you couldn't believe in fairy tales and Happily Ever After, what could you believe in? "And who's this stepmother that turned you into a dog?" Osamu asked.

"She is the most dangerous and evil woman alive," the prince answered seriously.

Now that, Osamu could understand. He nodded. "I have several relatives like that myself."

Ken, coming to the conclusion that nothing Osamu said about their relatives would be a compliment, frowned at him.

* * * 

Prince Yamato continued leading them deeper and deeper into the prison, and Osamu and Ken were growing more uncomfortable with every little step they took. Osamu had never been inside a prison, but he was pretty sure that the ones in New York looked nothing like this. At this point they had entered a wing that said, MAXIMUM SECURITY.

Osamu had a feeling that if they hadn't liked what had, apparently, been minimum security, that they were going to hate this.

They knew they were coming close to the Queen's old cell when they began to see signs. ALL FOOD TO BE LEFT IN COLLECTION BOX. It made shivers run down their backs. This woman hadn't even had her food delivered by the guards?

Another sign a little further along, read: NO PHYSICAL CONTACT! Ken shivered. What kind of woman was this? As they passed a third sign -- ALWAYS TWO WARDERS WITH PRISONER AT ALL TIMES -- Ken looked at Osamu as if she questioned the wisdom of their decision to continue.

Osamu merely shrugged at him. He was only following the Prince. And then they saw the fourth sign: NEVER ENGAGE PRISONER IN CONVERSATION. Ken swallowed convulsively. Not good. At least the woman in the cell wouldn't be there to meet them. Hopefully. Of course, the bad news was that she had been released into the world they were currently in.

Finally, they reached an open cell, the only one in this wing. Prince Yamato went inside. Osamu did too, but the air grew darker, and he could almost feel a presence, one that was gone, but not forgotten.

Needless to say, it was not a pleasant feeling.

"Look," Prince Yamato was saying, "there's a dog bowl down there. That's the dog that's got my body. It's outrageous."

Osamu looked over at his brother. Ken was clutching his arms, his knuckles had turned white.

"What did she do?" Ken asked. "…This woman."

"She poisoned my mother and father and tried to kill me as well," Prince Yamato said.

Ken didn't respond to that. Apparently he still couldn't hear the Prince when he spoke. "Basically," Osamu said, "she poisoned his mother, his father, and tried to kill him too."

Prince Yamato sniffed the floor, his tail down. "I think the Trolls were in here. Very strange…"

Ken swayed to one side. Osamu noticed this, and reached for him, but he caught himself by putting one hand against the wall. "Are you all right?" Osamu asked in concern. His brother didn't pay enough attention to his health. 

"I feel weird…being in here." Ken answered. He looked slightly sick. Osamu knew that look well. There was a roller coaster on Coney Island that always brought that particular look to his brother's face.

"Ken," Osamu asked, even more worried. "Are you okay?"

"No, no." Ken stood straight up and attempted a small smile. "I'll be all right. I just…need to get out for a minute."

Then he walked out of the cell. Something had really freaked him out. He was usually tougher than that. Osamu looked after him, torn between remaining with Yamato and taking care of his brother.

Then he heard a loud whack! followed by a thud. A loud thud, like someone falling. "Ken?!" Osamu called out into the corridor.

Ken didn't answer. He hurried to the cell door, but as he did, the door slammed shut on him. He heard a low chuckle. He rattled the door and looked through the bars, but he could see nothing.

"Ken? KEN?!"

He still wasn't answering, and Ken was the only one outside the cell. Osamu shook the door harder.

"I don't believe this!" he said. "Prince?"

He looked around inside the cell. Prince Yamato had vanished as well! He was alone in here, in a maximum security cell, without any way of getting out!

Just as the real panic started to set in, Prince Yamato slipped out from under the bunk. "I wasn't scared," he said, crawling out on his belly. "It's just…people mustn't see me as a dog, Osamu. It's deeply, deeply embarrassing."

Oh, great. Embarrassment before sense. "I could care less about you being a dog," he snapped. He turned back to the door and rattled it so hard that the sound it made hurt his own ears. "Ken? Ken!"

When the rest of the prison woke up, like Prince said they were going to soon, they would find him in here, with the dog. Just like the Queen. He was beginning to wish that he was still in the cop car. Prison here was worse than prison in New York any day. Here they had all sorts of magic that he could never fully understand. There…well…back home wouldn't be half as bad as here.

* * *

Daisuke stepped through the mirror, carrying his books in a bag he had slung over his shoulder. So now he'd followed Ken's scent and the dog's, overlaid with the smell of the Trolls, back here.

Now Ken was in his world. Life had gotten better. Funny how he seemed to be constantly saying that these last few days. 

He turned to the mirror and saw the greenery he had just left. The men in blue were getting closer and closer. Soon they would find this thing and come through as well. If they did, things would get very, very messy.

There had to be a shut-off mechanism for this thing. All magical items had them in one way or another. Daisuke used his free hand to search the side of the mirrors frame. And then he saw it. A protruding piece of frame that just had to be the secret catch. The dog must have activated it when he'd run into it, or something like that.

Daisuke reached forward and pushed the catch back into the frame. There was a loud whoosh as everything vanished, and the mirror shut off.

Daisuke jumped backwards at the sound, but then he noticed that he was staring at himself. And what a good-looking wolf he was too. He couldn't understand why Ken had screamed at him. True, he needed a shave, but still. He rubbed his chin and then grinned. 

He was probably the only one in the whole of the Nine Kingdoms who knew the secret of the mirror -- and he was going to keep it that way.

* * * 

The Queen was disgusted as she rode in the royal carriage with the Dog Prince. He was hanging his head out the window and panting with his tongue lolling most unpleasantly out of his mouth. She had long ago stopped trying to discourage him from doing this. 

It was going to be a challenge to transform this mutt into someone who might pass for the Prince Yamato. She could sense a headache coming on. One that would probably last through the weeks before the coronation. 

Neither the trolls, nor the wolf, had returned to her with the real Prince. Everything counted on Yamato being caught. Otherwise, he could ruin everything. The Prince had shown intelligence she hadn't thought him capable of. Yes. This was going to be a challenge indeed. But she would manage. She did love a good challenge.

She grabbed a handful of the Dog Princes royal outfit, and yanked him out of the window. "Humans, don't do that," she told him severely. 

He just blinked at her with his blandest expression and stuck his head back through the window.

* * *

Osamu no longer had any feeling in his hands. The warders of this prison were the toughest men Osamu had ever seen -- and he'd grown up in a very bad neighborhood. But the prison governor looked even tougher. They'd brought him in front of this governor. He looked mean, he looked bad, and he looked more than just a little upset about the Troll dust.

But then, who wouldn't be?

The warders had led Osamu into the governor's office. Yamato frowned. The office was as dark and foreboding as the rest of this horrible place.

"It's some kind of spell," one of the warders was saying to the governor. "Me and the lads have been laid out for over a day. We've searched every inch of the prison but the Queen is gone, sir."

The governor's beady eyes stared at the warder for a very long time, as if this Queen's disappearance were his fault. Then the governor turned his beady eyes on Osamu.

Oh, not good.

"I've been the governor of this prison for twelve long years," he began to speak, his voice dangerously low. "No prisoner has ever escaped before."

Osamu started to shake. But he managed to sound somewhat calm as he spoke. "That's a…very impressive record."

"Whatever you do, don't tell him I'm a dog," Prince Yamato instructed.

Osamu glanced over at him out of the corner of his eye. "Why not?" he asked.

"Speak only when spoken to," a warder snapped at him. Osamu swallowed and faced front again.

"Because the Queen has got some terrible plan," Prince Yamato replied, as if the answer were obvious. "My whole Kingdom may be in jeopardy. No one must know that I'm helpless!"

The governor cracked his knuckles. Osamu jumped.

"Where is the Queen?" the governor asked. His tone was menacing, his shoulders were broad, and those cracked knuckles looked like they could certainly do some serious damage. "How did she escape."

"I have absolutely no idea," Osamu answered honestly.

"Then why, were you found, locked in her empty cell?"

"I'm just an innocent victim," Osamu insisted. "I have never been in trouble with the law in my whole life."

The governor raised a very faint eyebrow. "Then why," he asked, "are you wearing handcuffs?"

"Because I'm wanted for armed robbery," Osamu said. But then quickly followed with, "Which I didn't have anything to do with, either!"

"Oh, carry on, Osamu," Prince Yamato encouraged dryly. "You're doing spectacularly well so far."

Osamu's shaking had grown worse. "I've come here from a different dimension, led by this dog, who is actually Prince Yamato."

"I told you not to say that," Prince Yamato groaned.

"Prince Yamato?" the governor asked.

The governor trained his beady eyes on Prince Yamato, who met his gaze, and then turned them back on Osamu. "I can make you break rocks with your teeth for a hundred years," he stated.

He probably could too. "It's the truth," Osamu said. "I swear!"

"This, is the Queen's dog," the governor said. "She has been permitted to keep him in her cell for the last three years. _Don't_! insult my intelligence."

"It's Prince Yamato," Osamu said. "Look, I'll prove it to you." He knelt down and looked at the Prince. "Bark once if I'm telling the truth."

Prince Yamato looked back at him disdainfully. How on earth had he gotten stuck with this man for his new manservant? "I have no intention of barking, Osamu," he informed him.

Oh, great. Oh, great. The damn dog was going to get them both killed. Him and his stupid pride.

"He's just being stubborn," Osamu said. He licked his dry lips and looked toward the door. "I must be released at once," he insisted. "I think my brother, Ken, has been abducted by Trolls--"

The governor pounded on his desk so hard that everything in the room bounced. "Enough!" he roared. "I'll have the truth out of you soon enough. Warder, remove his handcuffs, and put him in room, uh…"

He ran his finger down a chart that listed all the prisoners. It stopped at one number and a smile spread across his ugly face. "Oh, yes," the governor said. "Put him in room 103 with Iori the dwarf and Clay Face the Goblin."

"What about the Queen's dog, sir?" one of the warder's asked.

The governor looked at Prince Yamato. The dog looked even more regal than ever. How could he do that, when all Osamu wanted to do was run? "Get the furnace going," the governor said. "I'll slip some rat poison in his dinner tonight and we'll chuck him in the incinerator tomorrow."

Now Prince Yamato's regalness faded. "Did you hear that? Did you hear that, Osamu? They're going to kill me! You have to get me out! Its your duty."

Oh, yeah, as if Osamu could do that with his hands cuffed and two warders dragging him towards his new cellmates Iori and Clay Face. Still, Osamu put up a valiant struggle. He shifted and shifted and shifted again, but the warders held him tightly. He couldn't even elbow them. He couldn't escape. He wouldn't know where to escape to.

Except that mirror. Wherever it was. Even tough it was in this building, it seemed very far away.

His only hope was Ken, and he had no idea where he was -- or if he was even still alive.

* * *

Ken's dizziness was fading, but he kept his eyes closed. He felt as if he were inside a large shoe, a large _old_ shoe, a large old _tennis_ shoe that should have been discarded before it could stink up an entire room. He wanted to bring his hand to his nose, but he couldn't. It was stuck.

His lashes fluttered, but he still didn't want to open his eyes. Ken's arm hurt, stung actually, and he was immobile. Since the last thing he remembered was being carried, he knew that this wasn't good.

Someone chuckled nearby. Finally his eyes flew open, and he saw the three Trolls he'd locked in the elevator grinning wickedly at him.

"You're a captive of the merciless Trolls now," one said.

"Merciless," repeated a second one.

"Without mercy," echoed the third.

He looked around. He was in a large room that had stone walls covered with leopard-skin prints and other materials that looked slightly rotted. A fire in a nearby fireplace covered some of the smell with the scent of smoke, but not much. A chandelier hung above him, but the lights flickered as if there were candles in it instead of light bulbs. Everything was dirty and falling apart, but even if it weren't, the room would still be horrible. The mixture of oranges and browns and yellows made him think of sixties décor gone completely wrong.

A knife was moved up to his throat. "Who runs your kingdom?" the largest Troll demanded.

Ken swallowed. The knife was beginning to bite into his flesh. "My kingdom?"

"Who's in charge?" growled another of the three.

Ken blinked, uncertain of how to answer. It was really hard to think when he was in pain. "The President," he gasped out finally.

One of the Trolls leaned really close to him, and Ken turned his head to the side. "Yamato was trying to rally an army from your kingdom, wasn't he?"

"No. No."

Ken yelped as one of the Trolls bent one of his fingers as far back as it could go. "Ow!" he said.

"This could be a long torture session," one Troll muttered.

Ken swallowed. "I'll tell you anything you want to know," he said quickly.

"Look," said another Troll, clearly not happy with his answer. "Torture first. Then you talk. Its better that way."

Better? Ken felt like he was going to faint. Better for who?

Suddenly, the wooden door behind them flew open. Ken heard footsteps, gut couldn't see anyone. Then the door slammed shut. The Trolls were muttering something about, _dad_.

The footsteps crossed the room and stopped in front of Ken. His heart was pounding, but he knew the heavy breathing he heard wasn't his own. There was a click from a nearby wall, and a door Ken hadn't noticed before slid back. Behind it was a wall filled with hundreds of pairs of shoes, every type he'd ever seen plus some.

There was a horrible rustle of material and a slight thud. Then a Troll more hideous than the others appeared. He was taller, had dark hair, and his ears stuck out so far that ken thought at first they must be part of a hat. 

Ken scooted back as far as he could in the chair. But he was locked down so tightly he could barely move. He watched the new Troll place a pair of shoes on a pedestal in the closet, and then turn back towards the other Trolls.

"Where've you been?" he demanded. "You're a day late." Then he jabbed a finger at Ken. "And who's this? You were supposed to bring back the dog!"

"Forget the dog, Dad," one of the Trolls finally spoke up. "We've discovered another kingdom."

"It's the mythical Tenth Kingdom," agreed another.

"Talked of, only in myth," added the third.

"Don't talk rubbish!" the new Troll, that Ken now knew to be the father of the other three miserable Trolls barked. There was menace in his voice and an intelligence that was lacking in his children. Ken liked him even less than he liked them. "There is no Tenth Kingdom."

"There is," the first Troll insisted. "And this little witch imprisoned us in a magic box!"

A magic box? Ken blinked. Did they mean the elevators? Ken didn't have time to think about that. The new Troll was looking at her as if he were trying to see inside of her.

"You were captured?" he asked slowly. "But a mere boy?"

"He's a witch!"

"It's true dad, we can prove it."

One of the Trolls pulled out a sack from behind his chair. He/she/it, reached into the sack and, to Ken's surprise, pulled out a small boombox. They pushed it on, and Ken recognized the pre-tape hiss. The large father Troll frowned as if that were what they wanted him to hear.

Then, suddenly, "Saturday Night Fever" blared out of the player.

"They are called the brothers Gibb," one of his children said excitedly.

"And the song concerns a deadly fever that only strikes on Saturdays," another Troll added, its fingers doing a small little dance to the chorus.

The eldest Trolls frown grew. "There is more to all this than the Queen is telling me."

The Queen. Ken froze. They were working with that awful Queen Prince had been telling them about? The one who had been imprisoned? The one who had tried to murder his family? The one who had changed him into a dog?

The Troll must have seen the recognition in Ken's eyes, for he crossed the room and stopped in front of him. "You will dance for me," he said. "And when you are finished dancing, you will tell me how to invade your kingdom."

Ken swallowed. Hard. "I'm really not much of a dancer…" he stammered.

The Troll walked to the wall of shoes. He studied it for a moment, and then grabbed an old pair of iron shoes that looked as if they weighed a ton. "You'll dance when you wear these."

Then he walked to the fireplace and carefully placed the shoes in the middle of the blazing fire. "Wake me," he said, "when they turn red."

Ken blanched. He had to have. It felt as if all the blood had left his face at once. The Troll smiled maliciously, but only a little, and then left the room. His children went to the fireplace and watched the shoes heat up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Dragon Lady: _Oh, no!!!! Poor Ken-chan! What's gonna happen to him?!_

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Ken: _I told you, you probably weren't gonna like the ending of this chapter._

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Dragon Lady: **^^;;;**

Ken: _It's just horrible! How could she leave off there?! _****

Dragon Lady: _Sorry! But the chapter was getting too long…_

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Ken: _Excuses, excuses!_

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Dragon Lady: **^^;;;** _Hey, this is the longest chapter to date, so no complaining._

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Ken: _We're not complaining about the length! We're complaining about the way it was left off! Not a finished chapter at all!_

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Dragon Lady: ***agrees*** _No…its not. But it's one hell of a cliffhanger. _**^_~** _For those people who haven't seen the movie anyway._ **^^;;**

Ken: _Review. And tell dl how EVIL that was!_


	5. Fatal Attraction

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Dragon Lady: _Okay, here comes Part 5! _**^_^**

Ken: _Dl really hopes that people weren't too upset about the last cliffhanger thing…_

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Dragon Lady: **^^;;;;** _Sorry! Hehe. In this chapter I get to torture Osamu, Yamato, and Ken some more with my evilness. _**^_~**

Ken: _Uh oh. Being her favorite character, I'm not sure that I like the sound of that…_

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Dragon Lady: _But there are some sweet little Daiken moments coming up here too. _**^_^**

Ken: _The whole point of this story right? _**^^;;;**

Dragon Lady: **=9** _Exactly. _**^_~**

Ken: _So read away. _

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Dragon Lady: _Enjoy yourself. _**^_^**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The 10th Kingdom

Adapted By: DigimonDragonLady

The warders opened the door to a cell and tossed Osamu inside. He rubbed his wrists, which were both quite sore. They had marks on them from the handcuffs. The door clanged behind him and he stood for a moment, letting his eyes become adjusted to the semidarkness of the room that he was in.

The warder said, "Middle bunk." And it took Osamu a second to realize that this was a command. There was a triple-bunk bunk bed pushed against one wall. His cell mates were already in their bunks, their backs turned towards him. He couldn't see their faces.

In fact, the only face he could see was that of Prince Yamato -- his human face, which had been a mystery to Osamu before now. In his human form, the prince was very good-looking with golden blond hair, the same color that his fur was now, and the same hauntingly bright blue eyes of the dog.

Beneath the prince's picture were written the words: WORK HARD AND HONESTLY. Apparently that was supposed to be inspiring, but Osamu found it laughable. Put up anything like that in New York and it would be covered with graffiti in an instant.

He obediently followed the warders orders and climbed up to the middle bunk, where he sat, brooding over his predicament. 

"So," the guy on the lower bunk said, "what are you in for?"

Osamu swallowed. He had to pretend that he really belonged here for the time being, in order to fit in with the rest of the prisoners. "Armed robbery," he replied with a shrug. Well, that was the thing that had started him in this whole mess. "What about you?" he asked back curiously.

"Aggravated assault," replied Lower bunk. "I'm very easily aggravated."

That, Osamu told himself, was a very good piece of information to keep in mind while talking to this guy.

"I'm Iori," Lower bunk spoke again.

Suddenly, a massive arm lolled down from the top bunk, and Osamu had to bite his tongue to suppress a scream. 

"Do you like carving?" asked the guy in the upper bunk, who had to be, by process of elimination, Clay Face.

Osamu had to swallow three times before he could reply. "Uh, well, not flesh or anything like that, no."

"Look what I'm doing." The massive hand opened to reveal a piece of soap which had been carved into a sculpture. If Osamu had been asked to explain it, he would have called it Four Blobs on A Pedestal.

"You have real talent," Osamu told him.

The whole bunk rocked violently, and Clay Face leaned over the edge. Upside down, he seemed enormous, and Osamu realized that he probably wouldn't be much better when viewed right-side up.

"My name is Clay Face the Goblin."

Osamu didn't tell him that he had already figured that out. "Osamu Ichijouji," he replied. "What are you in for?"

"Carving."

Osamu felt dizzy and very sick.

"Will you be my friend?" the Goblin asked.

"Sure," Osamu managed to squeak out. "Why not?"

* * *

As they got closer to the palace, the Queen felt herself relaxing just a little. She no longer wanted to cuff the Dog Prince, who still had his face out the window. At least he had stopped that hideous barking.

The palace looked worse than he remembered. Neglected, abandoned. She's have to have her servants fix that.

The coach pulled up behind the massive stone wall, and she descended, followed by the Dog Prince, who looked tempted, for a very short moment, to walk on all fours.

"Conceal the coach," she ordered her servants. "Then prepare a room for the prince."

The Queen and former dog were now standing inside at the base of a curved staircase. It had once been grand, and it now looked worse than she remembered; the mighty wood rotting, and bits of the banister falling away.

"Who's that then?" the Dog Prince asked.

She followed his gaze. The portrait was still there.

The Queen smiled. "She was the stepmother who poisoned Snow White with the apple all those years ago. She was once the most powerful woman in the whole of the Nine Kingdoms, and this was but one of her five castles."

"Wh-what happened to her?"

"When she was finally caught," the Queen said, "they heated a pair of iron slippers over hot red coals and made her dance at Snow White's wedding."

The Dog Prince winced.

"Isn't it amazing how cruel good people can be when they put their minds to it?" she asked with a small humorless smile, before continuing her story. "She crawled out into the snow, dragging her raw, blistered, useless feet into a swamp nearby, this crippled woman who was once the fairest of them all. But she kept her magic mirrors and searched for her successor. And that, of course, was me."

The Dog Prince looked at the Queen. She resisted the urge to wipe at her eyes. She was showing a bit more emotion than she should have.

So she clenched her fists at her side and took strength in her plan. "I will finish her work and destroy the House of White forever." Her voice was low and menacing, but rose quickly to a level where it echoed through the halls of the castle. "And pity the fool who tries to stand up to me!"

* * *

The iron shoes were now a bright red. Ken tried to keep himself from looking at them, but failed. He didn't really want to draw attention to them, but he couldn't seem to help it. His mind was completely focused on them, and what it would feel like to wear them.

He'd been struggling with his bonds, but nothing he had done so far was working. He wasn't sure what he was going to do. But Ken was very afraid that he would end up dancing for these Trolls.

It would be extremely painful.

The three Trolls who had captured him were studying the shoes too. Ken wished that he knew a way to make them stop, but he didn't.

One Troll grabbed up a large pair of tongs, and walked to the blazing fire place. Ken bit his lower lip until he could taste the salty blood in his mouth. They were actually going to go through with this.

He didn't remember fairy tales being so nasty. Then he frowned. Actually, yes, he did. In the original _Cinderella_, the evil stepsisters had carved up their own feet so that they could wear the glass slippers. And didn't that end with birds stealing the stepsisters eyes? And what about all the blood in the original _Little Mermaid_?

Children's novels hadn't done anyone a favor by cleaning up the gore in fairy tales. If they hadn't done that then he might have been a little better prepared.

He watched in fascinated horror as the Troll stuck the tongs into the shoes, and pulled them out of the fire. All three of them were grinning maliciously at him. Ken supposed that they thought of this as payback for the elevator.

"Keep away from me," he ordered, as if it would do any good. He was shaking like a leaf.

Suddenly, a beautifully wrapped gift box came sailing through the open window and landed on the floor with a bang. The Troll set down the red hot shoes, and they all three of them clustered around the box. The iron shoes started burning the dust on the floor, sending up little wisps of smoke into the air.

The label on the box was so big that Ken could read it clearly from where he was. It read: A PRESENT FOR THE STRONGEST, BRAVEST TROLL.

All of the Trolls immediately started arguing over who's gift it was, each thinking that it belonged to him (her?). Within minutes, they were all lying on the floor, out cold. Ken stared in disbelief.

Well…he blinked. That was one problem solved. Now…he should put his mind to figuring out how to get out of this chair before they all woke up, or the really nasty Troll came back and blamed him for his children being unconscious.

When he heard a rustling sound behind him, Ken turned to look. To his surprise, he saw the man who had attacked him at his cousin's apartment swinging in the balcony window by a rope.

"Well, hello," the man said cheerfully, when he noticed Ken looking at him, as he swung back and forth on the rope. "Rescue is at hand."

"Don't you come anywhere near me!" Ken ordered.

He dropped off the rope and walked towards Ken, smiling. "But I've changed!" he assured him. "I'm not the guy I used to be! I've had extensive therapy. Look, I have the books to prove it."

In spite of himself, Ken found himself looking down at the handful of books the man flashed at him. Titles like, _How to Survive in Spite of Your Parents_, _The Courage to Heal_, and _When Am I Going to be Happy_, caught his eye.

He struggled against his restraints again. "If you come any closer, I'll yell," Ken told him desperately.

"Ken. Ken. Ken." The man shook his head. "That, is what as known as an empty threat." He got quite close to Ken, his breath against his neck. Ken flinched. 

He still remembered his cousin, trussed up like a Christmas goose, still angry because of all the spices in her hair, and shuddered. The strange man reached for the manacles that restrained him, and quickly released him. Apparently he hadn't missed the shudder either.

"I hope you don't mind me saying this," he said. "But I get the feeling that you still don't completely trust me."

Ken stared at him. How thick could a person be? "I don't trust you at all!" Ken told him. "You tried to eat my cousin!"

"Oh, no," Daisuke said. "I was just being playful. Wolfies just pretend to do naughty things. I would never really have eaten her. My name is Daisuke, by the way," he told Ken. "Just in case you'd like to know."

His eyes were gleaming. He had a wicked smile. But it was a charming smile, just the same. Ken steeled himself so that he wouldn't be drawn into Daisuke's spell.

"I wouldn't hurt a sausage," Daisuke assured him. "Butter would not melt in my mouth. Well…it would melt, of course it would, but very, very slowly."

The moment his hands were free, Ken leapt to his feet and backed away from him, nearly tripping over a Troll. Daisuke moved toward him, hands out. It seemed as if he were trying to calm Ken, but if that was what he was attempting, he was failing miserably. Ken looked around for a weapon, but couldn't see anything close at hand.

"Huff-puff," Daisuke said in irritation. "I give you my solemn wolf word that you are safe with me. You are as safe as a brick built pig house. Now, wait here a moment while I plan our escape. We are in romantically reckless danger." That last bit seemed almost to please him.

Wolf word? Ken frowned at his back. Was he really a wolf?

Stranger things did happen, he supposed. He backed away a little farther from Daisuke and continued to look for something, anything, that could get her out of this mess.

"How good are you at climbing?" Daisuke asked. "I nearly fell off three times coming up."

Ken stared at the shoe closet. The magic shoes glittered at him from their special pedestal. They called to him. If he put them on, Ken could escape Daisuke. He could escape all of them.

He walked toward the shoes. "Those are incredible shoes," he murmured. "They made him invisible."

"Yes, I know," Daisuke replied, distracted with their danger situation.

"But they made him _invisible_," Ken said, wondering why he was speaking out loud.

"Don't touch them," Daisuke said, as he surveyed the room. "They'll make you want to wear them all the time." He frowned to himself. "Balcony or corridor, that is the question."

"I'm not going to touch them," Ken replied softly. "I just wondered how they worked."

"They're working on you even now," Daisuke said. He sounded annoyed. "Just leave them well alone."

Ken snatched up the shoes, and was about to put them on, when Daisuke murmured. "Corridor, I think."

His words brought Ken to himself. He glanced at him. Daisuke got a panicked look on his face. "No! Quick! Balcony!" he said. "There's someone coming this way."

Ken didn't have time to put the shoes on. He ran to the balcony. Daisuke waited for him, holding what Ken had previously thought was a rope but which was actually a bit of ivy. He hoped the vine was strong enough to hold both of them.

He shinnied down it, amazed at what fear could make him do, and at the moment he hit the ground, he ran. He could hear Daisuke behind him, breathing hard. The first chance he got, he'd put on those shoes and give him the slip.

He ran as far as he could down the rutted road, but he definitely wasn't feeling up to a marathon right now. His head still hurt. He slowed down to a fast walk. Still, Daisuke had to struggle to keep up with him. He glanced over his shoulder at him. What had he done to this guy? He seemed determined to be near him. And he didn't want to end up like Mimi, no matter how Daisuke thought he had reformed. No matter how cute he was.

It was still daylight out here, but the sky was growing gradually darker. And it wasn't the darkness of night, but the darkness of an impending storm. He had been unconscious through most of the trip to the Troll palace. He hadn't seen the countryside, and he wasn't at all sure of where he was. That one glance at the map in the prison had been helpful, but he hadn't memorized it.

"Excuse me," Daisuke said. "But…where do you think you're going, exactly?"

"Back to prison," Ken said with determination. He had to get his brother out of whatever mess he had most likely gotten himself into.

"Back to prison?" Daisuke asked, as if he couldn't believe his ears. "That would not be my first --"

"Look, you," Ken said. "I've got to find my brother. And then I want to go straight back home."

"All right, all right," Daisuke said. "But not this way. Ken, listen, please. You won't survive five minutes out there unless you follow me. We must avoid the road, and go this way."

He was behind her. Ken turned and looked in the direction which Daisuke was pointing. They were facing a forest, but it wasn't like any forest Ken had ever seen before. Among the normal trees were huge beanstalks. Giant beanstalks. He couldn't count all of them. They rose up toe the sky, dwarfing the regular trees. And they looked hideous. He hadn't realized that beanstalks were so ugly up close.

"Oh, my God," he said. "I'm not going in there."

But he had a hunch he'd have no choice.

* * *

Ken sighed. He had known it. He would be walking through a beanstalk forest. The smell where he was, was powerful and unlike anything he'd ever smelled before. The tallness of them made him think of the giant redwoods that she had seen when he was little, on a trip he'd been on in California.

He wasn't trying to get away from Daisuke now. There really wasn't any point. He was the one who knew how to get from this beanstalk forest to the prison. She could only hope that he would really lead him there.

The shoes, though, tempted him like an itch that he knew he shouldn't scratch.

Up ahead, he noticed a large stone statue of a young boy. As he got closer, he realized that the statue had been neglected. It was covered in vines, and part of its head had been hacked off. What appeared to be Troll graffiti marred the base, but he could still read the inscription.

BRAVE JACK

FIRST MAYOR OF BEANTOWN

He frowned. Everything was so strange here, and yet, oddly familiar. The tales he had learned as a child mingled with what he could see and made the world he had believed in turn into something that wasn't quite real.

He turned to Daisuke. "Is that Jack of --"

"Jack and the Beanstalk, yes," Daisuke answered.

Ken nodded. The shoes tingled against him. He reached for them, and felt them beneath his fingers. They glittered.

"This used to be a very prosperous area," Daisuke was saying. He wasn't looking at him. "Before the beanstalks sprouted everywhere and polluted the land."

Ken slipped the slippers on over his own, and felt a tingle run through his body.

"The Trolls were given the land here as their Kingdom," Daisuke was still talking, and hadn't yet realized that Ken was no longer paying attention to him.

Ken held his hand up to his face and almost giggled when he saw nothing.

"And that's why they hate Prince Yamato so much, because he has a juicy, fertile kingdom, and --" Daisuke stopped talking and turned around. Then around again. Ken suppressed another urge to giggle. He couldn't see him.

"Ken?" Daisuke called out.

He continued to spin around like a wind-up toy on low, and then he stopped, putting his hands on his hips.

"Ken. Ken, please tell me you didn't take the Troll King's magic shoes!" Daisuke said, clearly disgusted.

All right, Ken thought. I won't tell you anything at all. He put a hand to his head. He felt slightly dizzy. Almost drunk. The urge to giggle rose within him again. He wondered how long he could suppress it. Long enough to escape pretty boy here?

He didn't know, but he was going to try and find out.

* * *

Prince Yamato was lying on the floor, tied to the table on a rope lead. He was hungry and miserable. Three meals sat in front of him, and with his new doggy nose, he could smell the poison in them. His stomach rumbled, but his self control never wavered. How dumb did the prison governor think he was anyway? Even a dog -- a real dog -- would have discovered this trick.

Yamato started panting, and then made himself stop. Panting was so undignified. Then the door opened. The Governor had returned with a steaming plate of meat. Two warders accompanied him in. Another poison dinner. Yamato's stomach growled.

The Governor set the plate of meat in front of Yamato on the floor, and the acrid scent of poison nearly made him gag. Next time, he wanted to say, get a poison a dog couldn't smell.

But the Governor didn't seem too concerned with him at the moment. Instead he called to the two warders that he had brought in with him. They followed him into the main room as he indicated.

"I've got Trolls and wolves and Queens missing," The Governor said. "What in the fairying forest has happened to basic security in this prison?"

"Sir," one warder said, "while we were searching the prison we found that the door to the cellar was unlocked at the time of the Queens breakout. It is possible she escaped that way."

"What's down there?" the Governor asked.

"Just a load of old junk," the warder replied. "Its been there for hundreds of years, before this was a prison."

"Take tomorrow's work detail off the laundry room," the Governor said, "and have them clear out the whole thing, top to bottom."

The warders nodded, and they left with the Governor to see to it. Yamato stretched his rope to the limit to peer at the Governor's desk. On it was the work detail. Yamato could just barely reach it.

He grabbed a pencil in his teeth and slowly scrawled Osamu's name on the bottom of the sheet. He was sure the man would want to rescue that mirror of his, so that he could eventually return to his own world. After he finished serving Yamato, of course.

* * * 

Daisuke could just barely smell Ken ahead of him in the forest. The stench of beanstalk, which was very powerful, knocked out all but the keenest scents. If he wasn't so attuned to Ken, he probably wouldn't have been able to follow him.

Ken was making his way to a giant thousand-year-old beanstalk. Above, Daisuke could hear the sound of booming voices and what might have been breaking glass. For a moment, he lost Ken's scent.

His eyes narrowed. "Ken?" he called. Not that the boy was going to answer him, of course.

Daisuke was more than a little panicked. If he lost Ken now, he lost him for good. "I know you think you're safe in those shoes, but nothing could be further from the truth. Anything you get from a Troll is bound to be bad and dangerous."

He sniffed, but he still couldn't catch Ken's lovely scent.

"Oh, Ken, where are you?"

He thought he caught his scent, but he wasn't sure. And Ken wasn't saying anything. Then the air near the base of the beanstalk rippled, and slowly, Ken appeared. "Oh, no," he said.

Daisuke gave him his most rakish grin. He was really pleased to see him. "Hello, again," he said.

Ken jumped. Apparently he hadn't realized Daisuke was right beside him.

Daisuke leaned against the nearest tree, relaxing now that he had found Ken. He said, "They're not fully recharged you see. They don't stay invisible very long without a proper break. That's a design fault in the shoes, one of many, in fact."

Ken tried to run from him, but Daisuke leapt out and grabbed his arm. Ken punched at him with his free hand before Daisuke pinned him to a tree with his other arm. "Stop fighting me," Daisuke growled in irritation. "I'm NOT going to hurt you. All right?"

He could feel Ken relax, and he ran a soothing hand through the other's silky long indigo hair. "It felt so powerful being invisible," Ken whispered. He shook his head slowly, as if to clear the shoes from his mind. Daisuke slowly pulled away from him, as much as he didn't want to.

"How did you know where I was?" Ken asked.

"I could smell you," Daisuke replied. "Follow me."

They started off through the forest again. Daisuke had taken control of the shoes, and had them tucked safely in his carry bag, along with his books. Ken was following along behind him.

Suddenly Ken said, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course," Daisuke replied, still carefully picking his way through the forest of beanstalks.

"Do you think I'm sexy?"

He turned to face Ken, astonished. He was leaning against one of the stalks, his body jutting out provocatively. He was beautiful. From the tips of his toes to his perfect mouth to his -- Daisuke sighed. His glassy eyes.

"You're the kind of man I suppose I should be scared of," Ken was saying softly in a way that made him know that he was going to make an exception for him.

An exception he very much wanted.

Oh, he wanted to take Ken and ravish him…. NO! Bad, Daisuke, bad. He scolded himself. "Oh, Ken," Daisuke said, "as much as I would love to believe what you're saying to me, I'm afraid it's still the shoes talking."

Ken blinked at him, then shook his head. "Oh, my God," he said. "I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me…"

"They bring out very strange things, the shoes," Daisuke said. "Whatever you're suppressing."

"I'm not suppressing anything," Ken said.

Ken could believe what he wanted to, but he didn't. And he found the whole incident quite curious, and quite hopeful. Then a stench wafted across the air. He sniffed, and the hairs on the back of his neck rose.

"Trolls," Daisuke said. "They've found us. Oh, cripes. Are we in big, big trouble now."

Through the trees, he could see distant lanterns swinging, and far away, the sound of barking dogs.

"They have dogs," Daisuke groaned. "They'll sniff us out. Run. Run!"

Ken didn't need to be told twice. He lit out like he'd been made to run, and maybe he had been. Daisuke, even with his wolf strength, had to hurry to keep up with him. He only hoped it would be fast enough. 

Finally, he managed to pull Ken to a stop. He didn't have much breath left, so he just gestured up at a beanstalk and pushed Ken towards it, hoping that he got the picture and would climb. Ken didn't seem to be too partial to great heights. But he did begin to climb.

It had been a long time since Daisuke had climbed a beanstalk. His hands were scratched when he finally stopped Ken and crouched near a vine twenty feet above the ground. Ken sat beside him.

Ken was peering down intently, breathing very softly. He must have been designed to be a runner, Daisuke thought; if he could breath that quietly after the marathon they had just run. Daisuke was having trouble breathing that quietly. Ken's proximity was quite arousing, even if there were Trolls and dogs lurking nearby.

As if in answer to his thought, the Troll King appeared below them, leading two giant Dobermans. The dogs were snarling and drooling and sniffing the ground. Daisuke felt his hackles rise. He wanted to fight them. But he wouldn't. He would hide up in the beanstalk like a good human until they went away.

"Keep moving," the Troll King commanded. "They are very near. The dogs can smell them."

All of the Trolls accompanying him moved off. They followed their king deeper and deeper into the forest. Ken was clinging to the vines so hard that his knuckles had turned white. Apparently he had thought they were going to find them.

Daisuke turned to Ken and whispered soothingly, "Beanstalk has a very potent smell. It puts off the dogs."

Ken wrinkled his nose. "You don't have to tell me."

"We'll stay here until its safe," Daisuke declared.

"Daisuke, how did you get involved in all this in the first place?" Ken asked curiously.

Daisuke, fortunately, was looking down. The last thing he wanted to do was tell him the truth. He coughed, "Well, I happened to find myself at a loose end…"

"You were in that prison, weren't you? The one where Sam is now," Ken asked. "What were you in it for?"

Sharp guy. Daisuke glanced up at him. "Oh, nothing much. Just a bit of sheep worrying, you know. And putting a wolf in a prison cell with nowhere to bound, only able to stare at the sky through the bars, it's in human."

Ken nodded sympathetically, as if he understood. He looked down, and blinked. "What is that?" he asked.

Daisuke followed his gaze to find his tail curled around at his side where he sat. He blushed, and hoped that it wasn't that apparent in the dark of the forest. "Oh. Just my tail." The wolf parts of him always seemed to appear at the most inopportune moments.

"Your tail?" Ken's eyes were wide. "You've got a tail?"

"Well I am a wolf, aren't I?" Daisuke snapped, then softened. "Go on," he said softly. "Touch it if you want to. Its perfectly normal."

Ken hesitated. "If its normal, then why do you keep it hidden all the time?"

"Because, in case you haven't noticed," Daisuke rolled his eyes, "people don't like wolves. They don't trust us. We're story book villains. Look at The Three Little Pigs, and Little Red Riding Hood. Wolves always play the bad guys."

Ken's gaze met his. Daisuke nodded encouragingly. "Give it a stroke," he said. "Go on, its not going to bite."

Ken stretched out his hand and tentatively ran it down the fur of his tail. His fingers were very gentle.

Daisuke shivered and shifted a little. 

"What?" Ken asked, pulling his hand back.

"With the fur," Daisuke laughed softly. "Not against it."

Ken touched his tail again. His fingers felt better this second time.

"It's very soft," he whispered, blushing.

"Thank you," Daisuke said, smiling a little. 

Maybe Ken did like him, more than he realized right now. Maybe, he would be the one that wouldn't classify Daisuke as a bad guy. Maybe…

Maybe it would only take a little time, before Ken would love Daisuke as Daisuke loved him.

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Dragon Lady: ***melts* **_Awww. _**^_^** _I love the sweet little endings as much as I love **cliffhangers. **_^_^

Ken: _That's nice dl._

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Dragon Lady: _Its kinda sad though…to not be able to get into more in-depth Daiken/Kensuke until I get more towards the end of the story. And trust me people…we aren't even halfway yet._ **-_-;;;**

Ken: _Why did you want to write this story again? _

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Dragon Lady: _I want more stress in my life and desire to die from it at the age of fifteen? _**^^;;;**

Ken: _Well, it sure seems that way to me._

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Dragon Lady: _I was serious though, when I said I wasn't even halfway. Maybe a quarter. Maybe. But it's about a five hundred page book._ And a six hour movie. **o.O **

Ken: ***cheerfully* **_Have fun. _**^_^**

Dragon Lady: _Hey Ken, if I do die from the stress, you go with me. _

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Ken: **O.O**

Dragon Lady: _Well you are my muse ya know._

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Ken: ***panicky* **_Hey dl, is there anything I can bring you? To make you more comfortable? A pillow? Blanket? Something to drink?_

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Dragon Lady: **^_~**

Ken: **^^;;;;; **_Review please!!!_


	6. Disappearing Act

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Dragon Lady: _All right, here comes chapter six. Oh, go me!_ **^^;;**

Ken: _Its about time._

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Dragon Lady: _Sorry I couldn't get this up very fast. I'm back in school now, so it might take a bit longer between chapters. _***sighs* **_School._-_-;;; 

Ken: _I thought you were happy to get back to school after your "boring vacation". Weren't you the one who was practically jumping up and down for joy because you were finally eliminating your cabin fever? _

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Dragon Lady: _I cured that the first day back. I'm ready to start my vacation again. _**^^;;;;**

Ken: **-_-;;;**

Dragon Lady: ***coughs* **_So, anyway, enough about boring old school. I come to read fan fiction to avoid it._ **^_~** _Here's the next chapter! _**^_^ **

Ken: _Enjoy yourselves._

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The 10th Kingdom

Adapted By: DigimonDragonLady

The Queen lifted the half-rotted cellar door. Billows of dust flowed around her when she did but she barely noticed. The two servants behind her coughed. She grabbed a lamp and held it out before her as she walked down the old stone cellar steps.

Cobwebs and dust and darkness. The place strongly of damp and rot. It had been a long time since anyone had been down here; it had probably gone neglected when she was imprisoned. She shivered slightly. It was cold as well.

She could feel the fear of the servants that stood behind her. But she knew better than to fear. She knew what she was looking for.

When she reached the dirt floor, she slowly drew a large circle with her feet. Then, very carefully, she marked inside the circle, five Xs. When she had done this, she stood aside and beckoned her servants forth.

The servants looked at her as if they couldn't believe what she wanted them to do. But she had briefed them before they came. They obediently lifted their shovels and dug on the first X, carefully, just as she had explained.

It took only a few moments to unearth the mirror from its shallowly dug grave. One of the men moved forward to pull it out, but she held out a hand, stopping him. It was better to remove them all at once.

The servants dug the second hole, then the third, fourth, and fifth, unearthing the remaining mirrors that had lain hidden beneath the earth for so many years. Then she nodded her approval and let them bring the mirrors forth.

Each mirror was ancient. And each was different. Every one of them a rare product of its time. Some with metal frames, some with wooden ones. One was smaller than all the others, and yet she could feel the strength of the magic it contained.

She stared at them all, still covered with the dirt of the cellar floor, and longed to have them in the privacy of her own room. She smiled at her own reflection presented in all five of the ancient mirrors, and said, "It's so good to have the power back."

* * *

Osamu's feet were chained together and he was manacled to fourteen or so other prisoners. They all shuffled their way slowly, and not just slow, but at an agonizing turtle pace, down to the prison cellar. Osamu looked at it in anguish. He had wanted to return here since he had arrived -- well, not quite since he had arrived, but since he had had time to discover what a horrible place this was -- and now he couldn't escape.

Heaven knew he wanted to more than anything.

The line of convicts extended from the pile of junk to a back wall that was made of wood. As Osamu watched, the wall went up to reveal a dock and a boat moored alongside it. He was at the very edge of the opening. The fresh air smelled better than he expected, better than it did in Central Park even, and the sky was so refreshingly blue and beautiful, it made him want to cry.

From where he stood, he couldn't even see the pile of junk clearly. He had no chance of searching for that mirror.

"Pay attention," the Governor commanded. "Everything in here has to be cleared out. Form a human chain and chuck everything that comes down your line into that boat moored there."

The warders spread the convicts out to the limits of their chains --about four feet apart from each other. There was no one on the other side of Osamu. He looked at the boat. There was at least twelve feet between him and the boat itself.

"Uh, excuse me?" Osamu spoke up.

"What?" the Governor asked him in a sickening tone of voice. Osamu thought that he was probably the Governors least favorite person in the whole of -- well, whatever nine kingdoms they were in.

Osamu swallowed, but continued on despite the Governor's expression of loathing. "Well, its quite a long way away," Osamu said, pointing to the boat. "Won't we break some of the more delicate objects?"

"What do you think this is, Ichijouji?" the Governor demanded. "Finery intended for Prince Yamato's table?"

_'Well I sure hope not, because Prince would definitely not approve,' _Osamu answered mentally, but aloud he remained silent.

The Governor continued. "This is scrap. Now do as you're told and shut up."

Osamu frowned at him when his back was turned.

The convicts picked up objects and threw them along the human chain. It took a moment for the first item -- a box made of wood and full of splinters -- to reach Osamu at the end. He tossed it into the boat. The box smashed upon impact. So did the china that followed, then the carriage wheel.

Osamu tried not to look at the mess in the boat. Instead, he kept watching for the mirror. He'd go through it, dragging all the other convicts along with him if he had to.

A bowl fell to the ground halfway up the chain. He winced at the sound.

He'd go through the mirror with everyone attached, if only the mirror made it all the way to him. In one piece.

* * *

The morning sunlight was cooler than Ken expected. He had a vague headache at the moment, as if he had been drinking. And he really wanted to put on those shoes again, but he knew that he couldn't risk it.

He was beside Daisuke in a grove of trees, not far from the river. Ahead he could see the giant dogs that accompanied the Trolls and the Trolls themselves pacing. He shuddered. They were still looking for him. Daisuke had assured him that the dogs couldn't see, hear, or smell them from this angle, and since he seemed to have a relatively strong animal component himself, Ken believed him.

He was believing him more and more these days.

"Do you think Osamu will be okay?" Ken whispered in concern. "I'm worried sick about him. But…he can look after himself, can't he? I mean, he can manage to stay out of trouble for just one day, right?"

Daisuke frowned, and he looked like he really wished he could assure Ken of this fact. But he had to be honest with him. "From what I know of your brother," Daisuke said. "I very much doubt it."

Then Daisuke focused his attention once more on the Trolls. He held a hand against Ken's shoulder, keeping him back. The Snow White Memorial prison loomed above them, dark and menacing. Ken couldn't believe that he was actually even considering entering it again. But he just had to go rescue his brother.

"All right," Daisuke said in a soft voice. "You wait here. I'll put the magic shoes on and go back inside and pre--"

"No way," Ken said. "You'll never come back. You just want the shoes for yourself."

"I don't," Daisuke said.

"Yes, you do," Ken replied.

Daisuke frowned. Dammit. Now the shoes were starting to get to him too. "All right, I do," he admitted with a scowl. "But at least I'm fighting it, unlike you."

They both had a firm grip on the shoes. Daisuke sighed. "Look. I'll wear the shoes, and you hold on to me. As long as you're touching me, we'll both be invisible."

"No," Ken said. "I'll wear them, and you can hold on to me."

Daisuke narrowed his eyes and shook his head, not in a "no" kind of way, but in disgust and despair. "Fine," he agreed, the frown he was wearing deepening. He just had to find some way to get those shoes away from Ken so that both of them wouldn't have to fight their magic. "But you are hopelessly addicted to those shoes," he said. "And unfortunately, I'm not that far off."

Ken yanked the shoes away from him and put them on. Daisuke grabbed onto him, and as he did, she watched them both disappear.

* * *

Osamu felt as if he'd lifted all the junk in every junk shop east of the Mississippi. He looked towards the pile. It was mostly gone now.

Still, no mirror. He took a shallow breath. He knew it had to be there somewhere. Unless some prison warder, or the Governor himself, had discovered the mirror, and how it worked. In which case, he might never get home.

Just as he had that thought, the man at the far end picked up the mirror. Osamu watched as it made its way from person to person, nearly falling a few times, but somehow making it to him unscathed.

He clutched it as if it were the most precious thing he had ever seen, and bent slightly forward, whispering, "Mirror on. Mirror, on!"

A warder looked at him as if he were mad.

"Mirror on! Mirror on!" He gave it a shake and a few sound taps, but still nothing happened to make it show Central Park.

Osamu examined the mirror carefully. The frame was right. The silvering was right. Only, no matter what he did, it wouldn't show him Central Park. All he could see was his own reflection, staring desperately back at him.

"Ichijouji!" the Governor shouted. Osamu winced. "What in the fairying forest do you think you're doing?"

Osamu still held unto the mirror. Touching the frame, the glass, every part of it he could, in an attempt to find the way to turn the damn thing on.

"Its not working…" he mumbled.

"Ichijouji, you little prison princess," the Governor barked. "I order you to throw that mirror on the boat. Now!"

Osamu bit his lip. "I can't, sir," he said. "I'm…afraid that it might get broken."

The Governor walked slowly towards Osamu, and he was sure that when he spoke the Governor wouldn't have anything pleasant to say. Indeed, his voice was cold and intense, "I am going to push you into the river," he said slowly, "and as you are connected by leg irons to all our comrades, they will also, sadly, drown."

The other convicts shot him murderous glances. Osamu didn't think he had ever hated anyone in his life, as much as he hated the prison Governor at that moment, possibly maybe the apartment building owner, but that was besides the point now. 

The Governor got nearer and nearer to Osamu. But if he threw the mirror, it would most definitely break.

But he couldn't let fourteen other innocent -- well, innocent in this case -- inmates, drown with him. "All right," he said quickly. "I'll do it."

He looked at the pile of smashed junk in the boat in despair. So much for going home. His entire future would be gone in one swing. Gone. Still, he tried to throw the mirror, but his hands wouldn't release it. He bit his lower lip and tried again.

The Governor watched him, his eyes cold.

Osamu was breathing shallowly. He measured the gap between the boat and his arms, wondering how hard he could throw the mirror without shattering it, and then decided that he had no choice. He had to go for it.

He gave an almighty heave and closed his eyes tightly, just waiting for the sound of broken glass that he was sure to come. He held his breath and then, just as he expected, something shattered in the boat.

He turned toward it and opened his eyes, fully expecting to see the mirror shattered forever. Would that give him seven years of bad luck in this place? What kind of luck could be worse than the kind he was having, anyway?

But to his intense disbelief, the mirror was fine. The pot it had landed on was hopelessly broken, however. Osamu felt like jumping up and down and applauding, though he somehow managed to restrain himself.

Then the Governor spoke. "Thank you, Ichijouji. As for punishment for your disobedience, you are confined to your cell for the next seven -- yes, you heard me -- _seven_ years."

Osamu inwardly sighed. How could his life possibly get any worse? Had the man read his mind? Or was that the going rate for throwing mirrors around these days?

The warders grabbed him by the arms, unhooking him from the chain gang, and proceeded to drag him back to his cell. Osamu didn't even bother to struggle. These guys were much too strong for him. A New York cop, he might have had a chance with, but one of these brutes…he was way out of their league.

Seven years. He was almost in shock. What was his complete sentence anyway? Didn't these people believe in judge and juries, with real court cases? It was unthinkable. The whole prison was a dictatorship, and they were all under the heels of one impossibly cruel man. 

Finally, they got to his cell. They tossed him in it and slammed the door shut behind them, without even a backwards glance. Seven years. The mirror would be long gone by the time he got himself out of this one. If he did.

He walked to his bunk, feeling more dejected than he had ever felt in his entire life. Why hadn't he let himself stay with Mimi's family? Why had he had to drag Ken away from them as if in fear of their lives? What stupid twist of fate had made him do that? If he had just stayed put, maybe they would both be living comfortably in a nicely sized apartment at the moment, and would have never gotten pulled into this mess.

It took Osamu a moment to realize that Iori and Clay Face were standing before him, completely covered in dust, and staring at him.

"What?" Osamu asked Iori wearily. "What have I done now?"

"Curses," Iori replied, to himself rather than Osamu.

"Now we'll have to kill him," Clay Face said.

Osamu swallowed. Hard. He stared at them and gasped. The picture of Prince Yamato was on hinges, and it was now folded back to reveal a gapping hole in the wall. "A tunnel?!" he asked.

They grabbed him and Iori covered his mouth with a dirty hand. "Shhhhhhh," they instructed sternly.

"We've been digging for thirty-one years," Clay Face said.

Osamu managed to somehow wriggle free. "Take me with you," he begged. "You can trust me. I've got _Escape from Alcatraz _on video and I feel I have a genuine expertise in this area."

Iori stared at him for a moment, and then turned to Clay Face, saying, "Best to suffocate him, I think."

"No," Clay Face replied slowly. As if something about this bothered him. "I trust him."

Clay Face then reached into his pocket and removed something from it. He studied it, then handed it to Osamu. It was the little soap statue he'd been carving earlier. Osamu clutched it in his hand without really looking at it.

"Thanks," he said.

Clay Face shrugged and nodded, clapping a meaty hand on Osamu's shoulder. "Let's get going then."

* * *  


Getting into the prison was much too easy. All they did was knock on the door. A warder opened it, and they walked inside while he was looking around for the person who had knocked. Ken loved being invisible. He even loved holding on to Daisuke as they walked down the dark prison corridors together. 

"Follow those two warders," Daisuke instructed in the barest of whispers. "The key holder's room is straight ahead and down the corridor."

They followed the warders, who were unlocking doors as they walked. It took Ken's magic-fuzzy mind a moment to realize what they were doing. They were going deeper and deeper into the security parts of the prison.

Finally, the warders reached the key holder's room. A warder was inside, leaning back on his chair, reading some kind of book. The cell keys were on a hook on the wall behind him, and beside him was an enormous blackboard with a list of the prisoners in every cell. 

Daisuke had his arm around Ken and had pulled him close. But Ken really didn't mind at the moment. He thought maybe he should mind, but he didn't. Really. He had his arm around Daisuke too. He'd been thinking about his tail and how soft it was and -- no. Not time to go down that road, Ken told himself severely. Thinking that way about Daisuke would not help him get Osamu out of prison.

He shook his head a little and led Daisuke to the blackboard. Together they found his brother's name and his cell number and Daisuke lifted the appropriate key.

Just as they started to leave, Ken glanced into the office next to the key holder's room. Prince was in there, tied to a desk leg on a rope lead. There were a dozen plates of food in front of him.

A bald-headed man who looked quite fierce sat at the desk. He was eating and seemed very intent on his food.

"It's Prince," Ken whispered to Daisuke. "Let's get him."

"We can't," Daisuke said. "These shoes won't take an extra person. We'll drain all the power in no time at all, and become completely visible!"

Ken shook his head, and then realized that Daisuke couldn't see him. "No," he whispered back firmly. "I'm not leaving without him."

At that, Prince's ears went up. He barked. Once. Their signal.

"You can shut up," the man behind the desk said to Prince. "There must be something that you like down there."

Ken quietly untied the rope from the desk leg. The man above him didn't even seem to notice. He put his hand on Prince's head, and in his ear, Daisuke moaned his disgust.

"If you can understand me, Prince," Ken said. "Take us to where Sam is."

Prince slowly vanished, and then started down the corridor, with Ken's hand clinging to the scruff of his neck. Daisuke was hanging onto Ken's waist, and Ken felt like the fluffy white stuff in the middle of an Oreo cookie. The mental image that thought produced made him want to giggle, which of course would ruin the effect of all this.

Why did the shoes make him want to laugh? He had to think clearly at a time like this. They were on their way to rescue Osamu.

* * *

Daisuke clung to Ken and every moment of the contact was sweet agony. Ken's scent up close, his body so soft, his -- he couldn't think that way. Not here. Not in the prison, of all places. But the shoes were effecting his judgment as well, and he wasn't even the one wearing them.

They had stopped in front of Ken's brother's cell. Daisuke read the little inscription up top on the door frame while Ken struggled with the lock. Apparently Osamu Ichijouji was rooming with two charmers: Iori the dwarf and Clay Face the goblin. Both of them had been in prison longer than Daisuke had been alive.

He could hear the Prince's breathing, heavy and doggy. That creature smelled terrible, and he wished Ken would just leave it behind. But Ken seemed to have a soft spot for him, however much trouble that would cause Daisuke. He didn't want competition for Ken. Especially not from a prince. He kept his hand on the small of Ken's back as he finally got the key to work.

Ken pulled the door open and they all stepped inside. Then he stopped so suddenly and abruptly that Daisuke walked into him.

The cell was completely empty.

"Where's he gone?" Ken asked.

Ken's dark, silky hair was tantalizing. Then Daisuke blinked. He could see him, and the dog, standing with its tail between its legs. The shoes had stopped working.

"Oh, no," Daisuke said. "They're exhausted. It told you this would happen." Why didn't anyone ever listen to him?

Daisuke felt a bit woozy. He put a hand to his head. Ken was doing the same thing. Even the dog staggered a little as the effects of the shoes wore off.

Prince looked up at the wall and barked. The sound reverberated in Daisuke's head and made him want to howl. Oh, he would have a massive headache when this was all over and done with.

"Look," Ken said and pointed in the direction that Prince was looking.

A picture of Prince Yamato in his human form -- which Daisuke did not consider an improvement; the Prince always looked so bored an superior, he put on way too many airs in Daisuke's opinion. -- was hanging at an odd angle, revealing a small portion of a hole beyond. Daisuke walked over to it and shoved the picture aside. 

He whistled. "Boy," he said. "Your brother works fast. I'll give him that."

Then an alarm bell went off, adding to the aggravation in Daisuke's mind. He put a hand over his ears as, in the corridor, shouting started.

"Prison break! Break out! Prisoners escaped!"

Uh oh. He didn't want to be caught in here. They'd just put him back in his old cell and he'd be locked up for the rest of his life. It would be too unbearable!

"Any ideas?" Daisuke asked Ken in a panic.

"Into the tunnel," Ken said quickly.

There were footsteps running in their direction. Ken pulled the cell door shut. Daisuke went for the shoes, but Ken reached them first. Daisuke growled softly in the back of his throat and leapt into the tunnel. Ken and Prince followed him, but stopped long enough to try and put the picture of Prince Yamato back in its place.

"Come on," Daisuke whispered urgently.

They did. He hurried through the tunnel as if his life depended on it. Well, his happiness did, that was for sure. The ground of the tunnel was already packed down, as if a couple of people had already been through it. The tunnel seemed to go on forever, and the deeper they went, the darker it got.

Prince Yamato could hear his own breathing, and that of the others, and it made him wonder about the air. He'd heard that tunnels sometimes lacked the large amounts of oxygen they needed, and hoped it wasn't the case with this particular tunnel. He didn't know where he'd learned that, but somewhere, and it made his heart beat a little faster.

Then it got slightly lighter, as if sunlight were coming through a crack in a door. It took him a moment to realize what it was he was seeing.

"There's something big blocking the tunnel," Daisuke said. "Osamu, is that you?"

"Who the hell is that?" Osamu asked.

"It's me. Daisuke. I gave you the three wishes, remember?"

"Hey, you can just stay away from me," Osamu ordered.

"How can I do that?" Daisuke asked. "We're in a tunnel together."

The alarm bell seemed to be ringing louder than ever. Behind him, Daisuke could feel Ken and the dog.  
"I'm almost out, but I'm stuck," Osamu said. "Give me a push."

Daisuke leaned into Osamu's back end and, bracing his feet, used his entire body to shove him out of the tunnel.

Osamu flew through the remainder of the tunnel into the light of the outside world. Daisuke didn't catch himself in time, and tumbled out of the hole with Osamu. Dust and bricks fell around him, and he landed beside Osamu on the hard ground.

Ken and the Prince turned dog followed a moment later. Osamu grinned in relief when he saw his brother, then sat up and hugged him.

It was a tender moment. Daisuke watched with something like pride.

"You're alive!" Osamu exclaimed. "Ken, you're alive!"

"Sam!" Ken seemed as happy to see his brother as Osamu was to see him. More maybe. He had always depended on Osamu to be there for him if anything ever went wrong. He trusted him more than anyone else in the world, and would follow him to the ends of the earth if he asked.

They hugged for what Daisuke considered to be a moment too long. He glanced at Prince, who was staring at the river. The dog just never seemed to be paying attention to the right things.

"Where's the mirror?" Ken asked his brother.

"It's on this boat," Osamu said excitedly. "I was helping to load it this afternoon. We can go straight home--"

Osamu looked toward the river as he spoke. Then his forehead creased. Daisuke had an extremely bad feeling even before Osamu started to shout, "They've taken it! They've stolen the boat. Look, there it is!"

Sure enough, there was a boat out in the middle of the river, heading away from them quickly. A single dwarf sat on the back of the heavily loaded down barge. He was far down the river. When he saw Osamu jumping up and down on the bank, he waved.

Osamu moaned. Damn his life. Ken closed his eyes and sighed. Daisuke suppressed a smile. It seemed like Ken would be with him for a bit longer then. Even he hadn't anticipated this fortunate turn of events. This wasn't so great a tragedy after all.

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Dragon Lady: _Hehe. Sounds like Daisuke's real happy that Ken has to stay a little while longer. _**^_~**

Ken: _Oh joy. I'm still stuck in the Fourth Kingdom with Osamu. I want me to go home. _

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Dragon Lady: **^^;;;; **_Sorry about that Ken. You've got a long way to go before you're getting home again._

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Ken: *sighs in disgust* _Why do you always torture your favorite characters? Why can't you make Yamato your favorite character and leave me out of this?_

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Dragon Lady: *giggles* _No can do, cutie. _**^_^**

Ken: -_-;; _I feel really sorry for me right now._

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Dragon Lady: ^^;;; _Anyways. Ooh, I like the Queen. She's a completely awesome character in the movie. That quote from my last chapter, "I will destroy the House of White forever. And pity the fool who tries to stand up to me", I absolutely love that line! _**^_^** _Very powerful. The actress who plays her in the movie does a very good job with the role, I think. _

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Ken: _That's nice dl. Nobody really cares what you think. You're just a fan fiction authoress._

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Dragon Lady: *pouts* _That's not a very nice thing to say. _**=P**

Ken: _Just shut up so that they can review, and you can start working on Chapter Seven._

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Dragon Lady: *sulks some more* _Fine. Fine. I'm going. I know when I'm not wanted. _**=P**

Ken: ***shakes head* **_It took her this long to figure out that she wasn't wanted? I feel sorry for the people who know her._

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Dragon Lady: _I heard that!_

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Ken: _Review!_


	7. Midas' Mistake

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Dragon Lady: _Oooh, I've finally gotten this chapter done and ready to post. _

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Ken: _It should have been done earlier, but someone wasn't paying any attention to it._

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Dragon Lady: **^^;;;; **_Ken, you constantly complain about my putting off my homework to work on stories, and now you're complaining because I put off the story to work on homework. Make up your mind already! _

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Ken: **^^;;;**

Dragon Lady: ***coughs* **_Anyway…_**^^;;;**

Ken: _Here comes Chapter Seven._

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Dragon Lady: _Oh, joy! And all things happy! _**^_~**

Ken: _So, Dragon Lady doesn't own Digimon. Or the 10th Kingdom. This whole story is just her Digimon version of the latter._

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Dragon Lady: _Yep. The muse doesn't lie._

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Ken: _Now, go and read the Seventh Chapter, and review._

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Dragon Lady: _Enjoy! _^**_^**

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The 10th Kingdom

Adapted By: DigimonDragonLady

Daisuke sat on the bow of the ship, his legs stretched out as comfortably as possible before him. The setting sun was reflecting off of the water, and the river had a strong smell of algae. He had to squint to read, with the sun's light disappearing faster with every passing minute, but he continued. The books were helping him. He just knew it.

Ken sat beside him a few feet away, clutching the magic shoes tightly. He hadn't let them out of his grasp since he took them off in the prison cell. The addiction was getting much worse.

"Ken," Daisuke asked aloud, suddenly. "Would you say you were 'desperately hungry for love and approval, but destined for rejection?'"

"I'm quite happy as I am thank you," Ken replied distantly.

Daisuke smiled at him. Ken smiled back trustingly. Then Daisuke attacked. He wrenched the shoes from his grasp and, in a single swift and fluid movement, threw them overboard. He watched them sink into the water with a strong sense of satisfaction.

"No!" Ken shouted. "No, no--"

He got to his feet, and made a move towards the side of the boat, but Daisuke grabbed him with a firm grip around his waist. Ken was stronger than he thought, but somehow Daisuke managed to keep a hold on him, until he stopped struggling and simply relaxed.

"What did you do that for?" Ken asked. He sounded like a child who'd just had his favorite toy broken.

"I had to," Daisuke replied. "It was for your own good."

"You threw away my shoes!" Ken growled.

Daisuke sighed. "They're very bad things to own, Ken. Trust me, its better this way."

Ken "hmphed" at him half-heartedly. But he looked up into Daisuke's eyes, and Daisuke was pleased to see that they were completely clear, and no longer glazed and glassy. Ken was coming back. He liked that.

"Magic is very nice," Daisuke said. "But its' incredibly easy to get addicted."

Ken glanced at the water as the boat moved along. It was obvious that he was still addicted, but without the presence of the shoes themselves, it was wearing off fast. It would only be a matter of time now, before he was completely back to normal.

"Why didn't you want them?" Ken asked in slight confusion. "Why were you able to resist the shoes, and I wasn't?"

It was a very good question, and one he wasn't sure that he should answer. But he did, as honestly as he possibly could.

"Because," Daisuke said gently. "You have such a strong desire to be invisible."

* * *

Osamu stood a few feet away, Prince Yamato at his side. Prince Yamato had been watching Daisuke and Ken. Osamu had been taking deep breaths. He'd never enjoyed his freedom so much before. It really was true. A person did take things for granted until those things were taken away from him. Never again would he complain about his job, his life, or his apartment building owner. Well…maybe the building owner, unless by some miracle the man turned over a new leaf and started behaving civilly to his staff. But nothing else.

"Osamu," Prince Yamato said suddenly. "If you value the safety of your brother, then we must get rid of this Daisuke immediately. He'll have Ken for breakfast."

Osamu frowned. He wished that Prince hadn't said that. He'd been thinking such happy thoughts. Now he was concerned for Ken again. He looked at Daisuke suspiciously, at the same time that Daisuke looked up at him.

The wolf-man blinked and raised his eyebrows as if silently questioning the intensity of Osamu's stare. 

"Prince says that he doesn't trust you," Osamu said to Daisuke, sounding as if he half believed Prince himself.

"I don't trust him either," Daisuke responded superiorly. "A dog is a wolf crossed with an old pillow. They are tail wagging slipper collectors. And wolves can be shot down on sight in his miserable Kingdom."

"Chicken rustlers," Prince Yamato replied to Daisuke's statement. "Granny eaters, shepherdess worriers. Name me one story with a wolf in which he is the good guy."

Osamu relayed this message to Daisuke.

"Hey," the wolf snapped. "I'm helping you aren't I? I'm a good guy."

Prince gave him a disgusted look that even Daisuke could understand without Osamu's help. "Then why were you in prison?" the Prince asked, as if that ended the debate.

Daisuke frowned sheepishly. "All right, all right. So I've made a few mistakes. Who hasn't?"

"See. I told you he wasn't trustworthy." Prince told Osamu airily.

"Oh give me a break," Daisuke snarled. "What has he," he pointed accusingly at Prince, "done so far, apart from getting you into all this trouble?" Daisuke asked. "Exactly. Nothing. All he's in this for is his own gain. Whereas I have saved your lives so many times I've stopped counting. Dog zero, Daisuke thirty-seven thousand, as far as I can see."

Osamu sighed in irritation. Would these two act this way the whole trip? He hoped not. This wouldn't help. And Ken, for all his struggles, seemed to like both Daisuke and Prince Yamato. Right now, Osamu believed, they needed both man-animal hybrids. He shook his head at the thought, one that he'd never have had in New York, and shoved his cold hands into the pockets of his very soiled jacket.  
His hand connected with something in the left pocket. He pulled it out curiously. It was the carving that Clay Face had given him earlier when they had just been escaping the prison. Osamu looked at it properly for the first time.

It was a tiny heroic statue that reminded him faintly of the one of the two guys raising the flag at Iwo Jima. Only this one had no flag. Just three men, as far as he could tell, though one of them looked slightly more feminine than the others, and one dog. Beneath it were the words: THE FOUR WHO SAVED THE NINE KINGDOMS.

Osamu stared at it. Something about it just seemed way to familiar. And maybe it wasn't the statue itself…maybe it was the people of the statue that unnerved him more than anything. He shook his head, just a little. He didn't want to think about it. In fact, the little statue gave him the creeps. With a sharp, quick movement of his hand, he flung it overboard.

It floated away, leaving a slightly soapy residue on the surface of the water.

Prince Yamato's ears perked up at the splashing sound that it made when it hit. "What was that?" he asked Osamu.

"Huh?" Osamu looked at him, like he didn't know what he was talking about. He glanced out over the river water and shrugged. "Oh, a fish? I don't know."

* * *

The Troll King carried a torch and led one of his gigantic dogs on a lead. Who'd have thought that Beantown would fall so easily to the relatively small force that had accompanied him. He glanced over his shoulder. His henchmen were kicking at shop doors, overturning barrels, egging on the dogs. That was all well and good -- a mild evenings entertainment -- but it wouldn't last them for an entire week.

He should have thought about that before making Beantown his home base. Two of his lackeys came up, dragging a pathetic, protesting excuse, that Beantown had the privilege of calling its mayor.

"I insist you leave," the Mayor told him hotly. "Trolls are not allowed in the Fourth Kingdom without the proper permits. This is a gross violation of the Nine Kingdoms Treaty."

"Shut your mouth," one of the guards growled, shaking the man roughly.

But that didn't stop him. He was too dense to notice a warning when he heard it. He said in his boisterous little voice, "Unless you leave this instant, I shall notify Prince Yamato. And soldiers will be sent."

The Troll King looked at the self-important creature before him. He stepped up on top of a large barrel and over looked the people of Beantown, who were all staring at him in horror.

He leaned forward and said, in his most official voice, "I am declaring war on the Fourth Kingdom, and I challenge Prince Yamato to come and face me within seven days, or I will claim his Kingdom as my own."

That would put the Queens twist in a bundle. Not to mention Yamato's, if this news ever reached his royal little doggie ears. He grinned. Even if the Queen did figure out a way to call his bluff, using the Dog Prince perhaps, he would still come out of this richer than he went in. When his bumbling excuses for children finally caught the dog, as he had threatened they had better, the Queen would still owe him half of Yamato's Kingdom according to their bargain. Then he tilted back his head and indulged in his most evil laugh.

* * *

Ken put a hand to his eyes as he climbed onto the deck in the early morning light. He had a slight hangover, which he would not mention to Daisuke, because he would only get an 'I told you so' look, as the wolf had warned him the previous night. 

Daisuke was steering the boat, but he noticed Ken's arrival on deck. He was watching Ken with a wariness that showed him that he anticipated this sort of reaction.

So Ken gave him a different one.

"Everything's soaking wet down there," he said. "I didn't sleep a wink."

"Oh, you should have joined me on deck, sleeping under the stars," Daisuke said. "It was quite amazing."

He closed another self-help book, its spine horribly creased -- did he always have to break the spines of the books? -- and then tossed it overboard. Ken watched it sail through the air and land with a splash in the water behind them. He guessed that it didn't matter now that Daisuke had broken the spine. The water would do even more damage.

"Are we in Yamato's Kingdom now?" Ken asked. "Or the Troll Kingdom?"

"Neither," Daisuke replied. "This river divides the two. The left bank is the Trolls', the right bank is Yamato's."

Ken looked at Yamato's side of the river. A group of anglers stood there. They didn't look at all like expert fisherman. Instead, they looked like thugs. They had anxious, angry expressions that seemed incongruous with everything that he knew about fishing.

Ken's brother had come up from below decks. He was standing beside him, looking at the fisherman just as he was.

"Must be a lot of fish around here with all these anglers," he commented.

"No," Daisuke said. "Just the one."

"The one?" Osamu asked in confusion.

"There is only one fish in the whole of this river," Daisuke said.

"Let me guess," Ken said. "Is it magic?"

"Oh, Ken," Daisuke said, making a gesture that seemed to say, 'is water wet?'. "Is it magic? Every year around this time, some lucky fisherman catches the fish, and if he agrees to throw it back, then the next thing he touches with his little finger will turn to solid gold."

Ken sighed. He knew where this was going. Now he wished Daisuke hadn't explained.

"Gold?" Osamu asked. "A man could touch anything?"

"Exactly," Daisuke nodded his agreement.

"You could turn a mountain into gold," Osamu said, starting to get really excited. 

"Indeed you could," Daisuke answered.

"Sam, no," Ken said.

"Boy," Osamu said. "You want to be careful with this fish."

"That's right," Daisuke nodded frantically, he was already worried about the transfixed look on Osamu's face. "In fact, you'd do better to steer well clear of it."

"There isn't a fish in the world that Osamu Ichijouji can't catch."

Ken seriously hoped that this was one of Osamu's exaggerations. Because he was beginning to believe Daisuke was right. Magic was dangerous. Especially in the wrong hands. He groaned inwardly.

Like Osamu's.

* * *

The Queen stood in front of her mirror. On it, she saw the Troll King sitting on Prince Yamato's coronation throne in Beantown. Behind him, his henchmen were looting and sacking the place.

This was not part of the rules. She should have trusted her instincts. He thought he was more intelligent than he really was.

Well, he would find out exactly who he was messing with.

"Exactly what do you think you are playing at?" the Queen demanded. "We had a bargain. I would give you half of Yamato's kingdom in return for your _cooperation_."

"You've done elf-all since I broke you out of prison."

And now he was swearing at her. She had to swallow a vicious retort. She wanted to bend this man to her will, not scream at him.

"It is essential to my plan that the coronation proceeds as planned," the Queen said. "If you remain in Yamato's kingdom, then a crisis will inevitably ensue."

"What's ensue mean?" the Troll King asked.

"Leave Beantown!" the Queen ordered. "Return to your kingdom or you'll ruin everything."

"I might." The Troll King shrugged. "And, I might not. How are my kids doing, anyway?"

"Their intellect and bravery quite take my breath away," she returned in a sarcastically polite manner.

"Yeah?" the Troll King asked, his tone of voice indicating that he knew she was lying. "Well you look after them. I want them back in one piece."

"If you will only be patient, Your Majesty," the Queen said. "I will give you Yamato's kingdom on a plate."

"Yeah?" the Troll King said. "Well I'm hungry now."

She waved a hand and his image vanished.

"Moron," the Queen spoke aloud to herself. "Idiot. Fool." She turned to the other mirror. "Why haven't you found Yamato yet?" she demanded.

Shapes appeared in its liquid surface. Shapes and colors and nothing else.

"He is with others," the mirror answered in its dry, enigmatic voice. "But I cannot see them."

"Who?" the Queen asked impatiently.

"Three travel with Yamato," the mirror replied. "One who can talk with him and one who can hurt you. They are traveling down the river, toward us, unknowingly."

"Show me." The Queen grabbed the mirror and pulled it close. "Show me."

"I cannot."

She pushed it away from herself in anger and then thought for a moment. Then she smiled. She had her solution.

"The wolf is with them. Work on him. Make him talk to me."

Once she spoke to the wolf, everything would be as she wanted it to be. They would have a real wolf in their midst, and they wouldn't even know it.

* * *

Daisuke didn't like the quarters below decks. They made him feel claustrophobic, almost as if he were back in prison. But there were times when they were necessary, and shaving was one of those times. He'd found a small, rusty mirror and he was shaving as delicately as a man with a knife and cold water could.

He could never explain to Ken why he wished to be alone for this A sharp movement, a loud voice, and suddenly he'd be bleeding.

He was looking a bit worse for the wear. Even though he'd slept he had shadows under his eyes. His hair could use a good trim as well. And he normally wouldn't have shaved on a boat. But he was in love now, and he was trying to convince Ken that he was the wolf for him. A man in love took risks.

Suddenly the image in his mirror changed. Fortunately he'd been dipping his knife in the cold water or he would have sliced his own neck for sure.

The Queen's face was where his own reflection should have been.

"Hello, Daisuke," the Queen said.

He dropped the knife and picked up the mirror with shaking hands.

"Go away," Daisuke hissed, glancing over his shoulder, afraid of an interruption from somebody. "Leave me alone."

"You agreed to obey me, when I freed you from prison," the Queen spoke softy. "Yes. I control you. Your will."

Daisuke shuddered. "No!" he shouted at the mirror.

"Why can't I see your companions?" the Queen asked. "What magic is going on?"

Daisuke's hands were shaking. He threw the mirror down facedown on a nearby bunk and ran up the stairs to the top deck. He was looking for Ken, but he didn't see him. Instead, he saw Osamu, fishing. Daisuke grabbed the book he'd been reading and waved it in Osamu's face.

"Osamu," Daisuke said. "I need to bond with you."

"Huh?" Osamu didn't look away from the river.

Daisuke had to get Osamu's attention. He had to get his mind off of the Queen. If he thought about her, she would have an entry, and if she had and entry, then she'd get to Ken, and if she got to Ken, then he'd never forgive himself.

"It says in this book that we need to do more man to man bonding," Daisuke said quickly. "And perhaps that bond is fishing?"

Osamu didn't answer. He was intent on his fishing. Daisuke stared at Osamu's fishing line, wondering if he should get his own. But he really didn't want to catch the fish. Maybe he could divert Osamu's attention from that fish, too. Daisuke smiled broadly. "Boy, I love fishing with my future brother-in-law."

"I want you to stay away from my brother," Osamu said. "You hear me? You've got a criminal record."

"We're on a small boat," Daisuke replied innocently. "How can I stay away from him? I might bump into him accidentally and…"

"Will you both stop talking about me as though I'm not here?" Ken demanded.

Daisuke turned. He hadn't seen Ken. The love of his life and he had missed him as he had come up on deck. Ken was steering the boat and he looked beautiful.

"What's the biggest catch you've ever had, Daisuke?" Osamu asked.

"A young mountain girl called Hilda," Daisuke answered absently. Then his eyes widened. That wouldn't be what Osamu wanted to hear…especially with Daisuke's interest in his brother! "I mean--"

"I caught a mullet once." Osamu apparently hadn't heard him. Ken had though, from the disgusted look he gave him. Daisuke blinked innocently back at him, and Ken turned away, shaking his head. Daisuke glanced back at Osamu. He was holding his hands apart and going on about his fish. No fish ever got that big.

"That's nothing," Daisuke said. "I caught a fish last year that was this big." He held his hands twice as far apart as Osamu had.

"Really?" Osamu asked, interested.

Ken was giving him a funny look. Maybe it was for encouraging his brother in the fishing thing. "No, no," Daisuke said. "I just made it up. Are we bonding yet?"

He noticed Ken had turned away quickly. His shoulders shook slightly while he held the wheel, and if Daisuke hadn't known Ken any better, he would have sworn that he was laughing.

* * *

The boat was empty. No Iori, no mirror. Ken didn't think he'd felt this dejected in all of his life.

His brother seemed to feel the same way. He was staring at the boat as if it had stolen his life savings. Daisuke had a slight smile on his face, though, and Ken really didn't want to ask why. He wasn't saying anything. In fact, it had been Ken who'd been asking all the questions of the boatman who was standing on the dock.

"Iori's been here all morning," the boatman said. "He left -- oh, not half an hour ago."

"When's he coming back?" Ken asked.

"He's not," the boatman said. "He swapped me this lovely boat for my pony and cart. Reckon I got a good deal."

"Oh, no," Ken sighed. Things here were just getting worse and worse for him. First Osamu had actually caught that fish that he had been threatening to catch, and gotten some kind of bizarre golden touch…and now, this. "Which way did he go?"

"He said he was taking the forest road," the boatman replied. "You might still be able to catch him if you hurry."

"Good idea," Daisuke said. "Let's go."

"Wait a minute, what about Prince?" Osamu asked suddenly. 

Ken frowned. So that was what was bothering Osamu. The disappearance of the Prince out of the boat. The man-dog had been going crazy, and the whole thing ended with him jumping from the boat. Osamu had said that he had been saying that he felt like he was two minds in one body and that he had to go to the castle.

The castle Prince Yamato had been referring to, seemed pretty much like an old ruin to Ken. Gray stone and looming dismally over the river from a distant hill.

Daisuke looked at the ruined castle anxiously. What was bothering him about the place, Ken wondered. What wasn't Daisuke telling them? Ken wondered if Daisuke even knew himself what was bothering him.

"He's off," Daisuke replied to Osamu's question. "He wants to be on his own," Daisuke continued. "My heart is breaking, but let's follow the mirror. Anyway, Osamu, you said yourself that he's been nothing but a nuisance."

"Yeah, I know, but it doesn't feel right to just run off and leave him. He must have bounded off for some reason."

"You'll loose that mirror," Daisuke said.

"Sam," Ken said, knowing what his brother was thinking. Ken too felt concern for Prince Yamato, as he had been the one to find him, but he also knew that they only had one real chance at that mirror.

"Stay here," Osamu said. "I'll be back in fifteen minutes."

"Sam…"

Osamu held up his hand. "Fifteen minutes, Ken."

Ken sighed, but he didn't even try and stop him. He was feeling guilty too for leaving Prince Yamato alone. Maybe his brother could do something. Or at least find out what was going on.

He'd give him his fifteen minutes, and then he'd have to catch up to Ken. If they had to split up, they had to. He'd bring that mirror to him if he found it.

Ken hazarded a glance at Daisuke. He was starring at that castle Prince had been babbling about, with a faraway look in his eyes. He seemed…almost as if he were frightened of it.

Ken's heart started pounding. He tried to shout to his brother, but Osamu was already too far away.

Ken had changed his mind. He'd wait here for fifteen minutes, and then he'd go after Osamu, no matter what Daisuke said.

Or what waited for them back there at that ruined castle.

* * *

Prince Yamato had discovered that wet fur was a definite inconvenience. Yamato had never before realized how heavy it was. It slowed his progress considerably. And he had to hold back the occasional sneeze. He hated the smell of wet dog, even if the wet dog was him.

He had found his human body in the castle! But he needed help reaching his human counterpart. He was looking for Osamu or Ken. Maybe they had landed. Maybe they would help.

So he was running down the path, as fast as his wet doggie fur would allow him to go, towards Rivertown. And then who should be coming up it, but Osamu!

What an enormous stroke of luck!

"Osamu!" Yamato shouted. "I've found myself!"

Osamu obviously hadn't seen him yet, because he looked up in surprise when he heard Yamato shouting.

"Prince!" Osamu sounded relieved. Then he got a panicked look on his face. "Look out!" he exclaimed.

Trolls shoved their way through the bushes and grabbed him. Yamato cursed himself. He had been so excited that he hadn't even bothered to sniff the air. Twice more an idiot.

He recognized these Trolls, too. They were the three that had been plaguing him. The ones that had followed him into the world of Osamu and Ken.

"Hold him still while I kick him," one of the Trolls commanded.

"Leave him alone, you cowards," Osamu shouted. "He's just a dog! Pick on someone your own size."

And then, Osamu came to Prince's rescue.

* * *

He wasn't at any of the docks. He wasn't anywhere near the waters edge. Ken shaded his eyes with his hand and gazed up at the ruined castle, whose outline filled the sky.

Daisuke was right. It gave Ken a feeling of foreboding. 

Daisuke followed Ken's gaze. He couldn't see Ken's brother either and worse, he didn't smell him.

Ken glanced sadly over his shoulder at the woods beyond. They had already lost the mirror. He just knew it. They had already wasted too much time in Rivertown, as Daisuke called it. Iori was more than an hour ahead of them.

And now his brother was missing.

Just as he had that thought, his brother suddenly appeared on the path down from the castle. He was walking very slowly, as if he had just received news that someone very close to him had died.

Ken ran up to him, and Daisuke followed.

"Sam!" Ken shouted. His brother looked up, and then hurried toward them.

When he reached them, Ken hugged him close. "Thank God you're all right," he said in relief. "Did you find Prince?"

Osamu didn't answer.

Ken's breath caught in his throat. He moved back, out of the hug, so that he could see Osamu's face. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"I've…defeated the Trolls," Osamu said.

Ken smiled. "You did?! That's wonderful!"

"That's the good news," Osamu said.

He didn't sound as if it was very good news to him. Ken shot Daisuke a worried glance. Daisuke was looking at Osamu.

"Osamu, by your saying that defeating the Trolls was the good news, you seem…to be implying that there's bad news…" 

Osamu swallowed hard. "Do you think…that the boatman happens to have a chisel?" he asked. Ken recognized the look on his brother's face. The bad news was really bad, and it was Osamu's fault.

"Osamu," Ken said slowly. "What exactly is the bad news?"

Osamu's eyes were dark and sad. He took Ken's hand and pulled him with him toward a pile of bushes beside the path. Daisuke hurried along after them. They stopped, and Ken stared in complete disbelief.

"I think…" Osamu said slowly. "That if we can get a chisel, he'll come away from the others quite easily…"

Gold glinted in the sunlight. Ken was mesmerized. In front of them was a golden tableaux. Three golden Trolls, frozen in attack, were attached to one gold dog, frozen as he tried to escape them.

"Oh, Prince Yamato," Ken murmured.

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Dragon Lady: _Oh, no! Poor Yamato! Whatever's going to happen to him? _**^^;;;;**

Ken: _Oooh! I know! Osamu --_

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Dragon Lady: ***clamps hand over Ken's mouth***

Ken: ***glares***

Dragon Lady: _Shush! _**^^;; **_Don't give it away. _***removes hand***

Ken: _You do realize that some of these people already know what's going to happen, don't you, dl?_

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Dragon Lady: _Yes. But there are some people reading who don't want you to tell them. _

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Ken: _Oh, whatever. I'm sure they'd rather find out now than be forced to suffer with a cliffhanger._

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Dragon Lady: **^^;;;** _It won't take me that long to put up the next chapter. Really!_

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Ken: _Yeah. Sure it won't._

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Dragon Lady: _…_

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Ken: _Review!_


	8. Portentous Predictions & Forbidding Fort...

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Dragon Lady: _All right, here we go. Next chapter coming right up. _**^_^**

Ken: _Dragon Lady apologizes for the delay._

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Dragon Lady: ***agrees* **_It has been a long time between uploading chapters. A week? Almost? Sorry. _**^^;;; **

Ken: _But the stories here now._

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Dragon Lady: ***sighs* **_I really don't want to be writing these next couple chapters in the forest. This was some of the more boring stuff in the movie, I thought. _**^^;;;**

Ken: _Dl wants to skip to other scenes that she thinks are funnier._ ***glares at authoress* **_Especially because of the way she has role cast._

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Dragon Lady: ***giggles* **_I guess people who have seen the 10th Kingdom (or read it) know what I'm talking about. _

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Ken: _Personally, I don't find it all that funny._

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Dragon Lady: _That's because you're no fun, Ken-chan._

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Ken: _Just think about how much fun you'd be if you were a guy and in my shoes…_***scowls***

Dragon Lady: _Anyhoo. _**^^;;;** _Next part!_

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Ken:_ Read and Review!!!_

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The 10th Kingdom

Adapted By: DigimonDragonLady

Daisuke stood in front of the giant forest. The trail winding through it was dark and foreboding. He hated this place, but he knew that it would lead them to the mirror.

His Ken wanted the mirror, and he would take him to it, even though Daisuke knew it meant his loss to him. Perhaps he could learn to survive in Ken's world. It was a wondrous place, that was for certain.

The books from it were wonderful.

He glanced at the book on the forest floor, open to the page he had marked. Then he sniffed. The subtle aroma of bacon sizzling in the pan over a carefully tended campfire made his mouth water.

No. He had to focus. They were getting to a dangerous place. Ken needed Daisuke to be strong.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled.

"I am free of pain, anger, and fear," Daisuke said. "In every aspect of my life, I am guided to my highest happiness and fulfillment. All problems and struggles…"

Damn. He had forgotten the next part. He opened one eye and glanced at the book again. He had to crouch to read it. Then he stood and closed his eyes again. 

"…now fade away. I am serene. I…I…"

The bacon was getting too crisp. There was the faint smell of charred meat on the air. It broke his concentration.

"Osamu!" Daisuke shouted. "You're ruining the bacon. I can smell it burning."

No one answered. Daisuke picked up his book and hurried to the camp. An unattended pan sat on the open flame of the fire. Osamu wasn't even looking at the meat, which was beginning to become shriveled and dark brown around the edges. Daisuke grabbed the pan and pulled it off of the flame, wincing as the heat of the pan's handle bit into his palm. He set the pan down carefully, and then shook his hand to cool it off.

He looked around for Osamu and spotted him sitting near Prince.

"I feel terrible," Osamu told him. "Just look at him."

Daisuke couldn't resist the look. The poor dog was still gold, frozen with a look of sheer determination on his little doggie face. Osamu had made a cart for him, and had tied a lead around Prince's neck so that they could drag him along.

"It was a simple magic-fish-spell, gold-finger mistake, Osamu," Daisuke said shrugging. "It was almost predictable."

"But I've killed him," Osamu said.

"Oh, I don't know about that. Things have a way of bouncing back here," Daisuke said. "I wouldn't worry about him too much."

"You're not just saying that, are you?" For the first time, Osamu looked hopeful.

Daisuke sighed. There was nothing worse than false hope. And he hated breaking it to Osamu. "Yes, I'm afraid I am just saying that. Observe this simple Prince alertness test."

He picked up a stick off the ground and threw it. "Fetch," Daisuke said to the golden dog. "Fetch, boy."

"It's not funny," Osamu scowled.

"It might get funnier if we keep doing it," Daisuke said.

Ken picked that moment to come back to camp. He was carrying a bucket full of water. 

"What are you both still sitting around for?" Ken asked. "I thought I told you to get packed up."

"We were just having a sandwich," Osamu said.

"The mirror is getting farther away with every minute that we waste," Ken told them. "If we loose the trail, we'll never get home."

Daisuke bent over the bacon, intently putting it into sandwiches so that Ken would think he had been industrious. Besides, Daisuke wanted to be able to eat before they left. No wonder Ken was so dangerously slim. He let food be a second priority.

"But Ken," Daisuke said. "Breakfast is bacon. Nothing makes me more happy than the smell of bacon in the morning. Little pigs, parading up and down with their curly corkscrew tails. Bacon sizzling away in an iron frying pan."

Ken smiled at him in bemusement and Daisuke handed him a sandwich.

"Let's just finish these off on the move," Ken said.

They made their way along the tortuously winding path before them. The forest was dark and quiet, almost too quiet. As much beautiful nature as there was in this place, Daisuke was not comfortable in it. The Huntsman was too strong a presence.

They had been walking for a while when Osamu stopped suddenly and pointed. "Here," Osamu said. "Look. Someone's definitely come through here with a cart. You can see the track the wheels made."

Ken stiffened. Daisuke could feel his interest.

"Dwarf," Daisuke said. "Definitely."

"You can tell?" Ken asked.

"Of course," Daisuke responded superiorly. "He's taken the main forest road, and so must we."

Daisuke went deeper into the giant forest, knowing that Ken and Osamu would follow him in without question. He could hear the squealing of the wheels on the little cart on which Prince was being carried. It must have been a lot of work for Osamu to drag Prince along, but Osamu wasn't complaining about the load. That was a surprise in and of itself.

If Osamu could change, perhaps Daisuke could also. There was always hope.

Around a corner, Daisuke stopped. He smelled something -- someone -- coming towards them. Ken stopped too and looked at Daisuke quizzically. Daisuke only had to wait a minute for Ken's question to be answered.

An elderly lady carrying a bundle of twigs was walking toward them. When she saw them, she held out a thin, bony hand. "Ah, I am but a poor old woman. Spare me some food."

Daisuke frowned. Unsure of what to do. It wasn't always a good idea to trust random passers on the road in the 4th Kingdom. Osamu too, looked uncertainly at the old lady. 

Sensing their hesitation, she turned her attention toward Ken. "You, young man," she said to him. "Would you spare me some food, please?"

Ken smiled. "I'll give you what I have."

He reached into his bag and gave the old woman his last two sandwiches.

"Ken," Osamu said, "you're such a soft touch."

A soft touch? Daisuke would have called him a saint.

"Since you have been so kind, I have a lesson for you. Take this stick." She handed Ken one of the twigs she had gathered.

Ken took it, looking a bit confused as he did.

"Break it," the old woman ordered him.

Ken did.

The old woman handed him another twig. "And this one."

The snap echoed through the trees. Ken looked even more confused, and now a bit wary. Daisuke was fascinated.

"Put these three sticks together," the old woman commanded, handing three more of her twigs to Ken.

Ken bundled them together neatly, as if he was going to be graded on his work. Daisuke was frowning now. What was the old woman getting at?

"Now try to break them," came the final command.

Ken bent them as he had the first two. But he couldn't even get the three twigs to move. He looked up at the old woman. "I can't," he said.

"That is the lesson," the old woman replied.

Daisuke tilted his head to the side. He didn't get it. Apparently neither did Osamu.

"When the students are ready," the old woman said, "the teacher appears."

"Not in my school they didn't," Osamu said.

But Ken didn't seem upset by this lesson. He said to the woman, "Have you passed a dwarf driving a cart?" 

"Yes. Very early this morning," she answered. "He has taken the main forest road, but you must not. You must leave the path."

Daisuke drew in a sharp breath. A warning. He had been feeling it all morning. But he gave the old woman the argument he had been giving himself. "This road is the only safe thing in this whole forest," he said.

The old woman stared at him for a moment. Her eyes were rheumy, her face a little too calm. "Not for you," she said. "Someone is following you. They intend to kill you."

Then she walked away, bent double under the weight of the twigs. Daisuke watched her go, the disquiet feeling he'd felt since they got off the river growing into a near state of panic. He fought it down as best he could.

"What's this 'intend to kill'?" Osamu asked, staring after the old woman as well.

Daisuke was afraid he knew. "There is a man who controls this forest. The Huntsman. I have heard that he serves the Queen. But he certainly won't expect us to leave the only road and go through the forest itself."

"And why not?" Ken asked.

"Because. Only a fool would go through the disenchanted forest." Daisuke stepped off the path. His hackles rose, but he kept going. He would have to be vigilant. No letting his guard down in here.

"Oh, great," Osamu muttered.

Daisuke resisted the urge to take Ken's hand. It was better if they went single file.

"From now on," Daisuke said. "I will lead. Step only where I step."

He hoped that Osamu and Ken would listen to him and do as he said. It was very important that they did. Any mistake they made here could cost them all their lives.

* * *

Ken followed Daisuke deeper into the forest. His father walked behind him, the wheels of poor Prince Yamato's cart squeaking in a regular rhythm. He found that, at least, to be somewhat comforting. Everything else was not.

It was dark, even though it was the middle of the day. The trees were so close together that he had to search for pockets of light. In the distance, he could hear screeches and howls. They were unlike any noises he'd ever heard before, yet they made the hair rise on the back of his neck.

But those noises weren't what unnerved him the most. It was the whistle of the wind, the groaning of the trees, and a sound he couldn't identify, a sound almost like breathing, that made him feel as if the whole forest was alive and watching them.

"Hey, is it just me," Osamu said, "or can you two hear moaning too?"

"You'll hear lots of things," Daisuke said absently. "This forest is magical."

He sounded so calm about it. Ken had now spent two days in the presence of magic, and he still wasn't used to it. Nor was he used to the threats that seemed to come at them from everywhere.

If it wasn't the old woman warning that they'd all be killed, it was the Trolls chasing them, or the horrible magical fish granting his brother's gold wishes. Daisuke lead them to a clearing and Ken groaned. This was a prime example of what he'd been thinking about.

Dead animals were strung up all around them: rabbit, deer, even a bear. Hanging from the bottom of a signpost were these words:

IF YOU ARE READING THIS,

YOU ARE TRESSPASSING.

ALL TRESSPASSERS WILL BE CONSIDERED POACHERS.

ALL POACHERS WILL BE SHOT.

~BY ORDER OF THE HUNTSMAN.

And beneath that was a large circle of dried blood, fur, and feathers, apparently to make the point to all species. Ken didn't like the forest, the clearing, or the sign. It showed a knowledge of Aristotelian knowledge that made him shudder.

The Huntsman was smart. Intelligence working against them. 

"Do you actually know where you're going?" Ken asked Daisuke, trying to keep the worry out of his voice.

"I'm following my nose," Daisuke replied shortly.

The screech of wheels on Prince Yamato's cart stopped. Ken and Daisuke turned around at the same time. Osamu was using all of his strength to pull Yamato's cart from a rut in the narrow path.

"Osamu!" Daisuke shouted, making Ken jump. "Don't move!"

His brother looked startled. "What? Why?"

Daisuke picked up a stick and threw it just in front of Osamu. There was a loud slam as a concealed bear trap snapped shut. Ken felt all the blood drain from his face as he looked at it. If it had caught Osamu, it would have taken his leg off.

"That's it," Osamu said. "Lets get back on the road."

"No, come on," Daisuke instructed. "Keep moving. We have to get as far as we can in the daylight."

"Great," Osamu muttered. "If its bad during the day, I wonder what its going to be like at night."

Ken ignored his brother. "Daylight?" he asked Daisuke. This time he let his nervousness show and didn't care that Daisuke could hear it. "What do you mean in daylight? We're not going to spend the night in here. Exactly how big is this forest we're going through?"

"The Thousand Mile forest is approximately one thousand miles long," Daisuke answered as if that should be obvious.

Ken thought about that. How long would it take them to walk through the forest? A human being only traveled a mile every twenty minutes or so, maybe slower when with his brother who was dragging a solid gold dog on a cart. That meant, at best, three miles an hour. There were twenty-four hours in a day, but a person could only walk about twelve of those so, three times twelve was thirty-six miles a day. And thirty six went into a thousand --

His mind boggled. Ken forced himself to concentrate on the math. He knew that he knew it. Math had always been easy for him. He tried to ignore the growing darkness. The forest was spooky enough with little rays of light coming in. Now that the light was fading, the place was becoming absolutely terrifying. 

Twenty-seven-point-seven times. So thirty-six into a thousand equaled twenty-seven-point-seven, which meant that it would take them around a month to travel through this entire place.

Ken shuddered. He'd only been here two days. A month seemed like forever.

"We can't walk all night," Osamu said.

"Yes we can," Daisuke replied.

"Ssshh," Ken cautioned. "There are lights up ahead."

They crept to a clearing deep in the forest, where three wagons formed a small encampment. They looked like gypsy wagons from old Bela Lugosi movies. Faintly, Ken heard music -- fiddle music. 

"What do we do?" Osamu asked Daisuke.

"Why, come and join us, of course."

Ken started. The voice had come from behind them. He turned to look. Two men in colorful clothing stood as close to him as a person could get. They were carrying axes and firewood. They didn't seem menacing. Not completely. But he didn't trust anything he saw in this place.

Daisuke, on the other hand, looked very nervous. As he men lead Ken, his father, and Daisuke into he camp, Daisuke leaned over to him and whispered, "They are all poachers. They will kill us if they choose. Do not refuse anything they offer, but do not consume anything you have not already seen them eat first."

"Hear that, Ken?" Osamu asked, nodding in understanding. "It's just like eating at your cousin's house."

Ken glared at him. Osamu was still dragging poor Prince Yamato. He briefly wondered what the Gypsies would think of that.

Their camp wasn't as temporary as I had seemed from the clearing. All around there were skins and drying meat from the animals the Gypsies had killed. In one area, there were six wooden cages, filled with birds. The birds were still alive. They watched as Ken and his band came into the camp.

There were about a dozen Gypsies. One of them was throwing a large knife at a tree and didn't stop as Ken walked past.

A shy looking boy of around nine or ten sat near one of the wagons. He watched as Ken passed; then he saw Daisuke. The boy's eyes lit up, but he didn't move. The boy had a very intense expression on his face. Daisuke didn't look that unusual. Did the boy know him from somewhere?

They reached the center of the camp. It was lit by lanterns and fires. Ken didn't realize how spooky flickering light was until he saw it against the utter darkness of the forest. The light moved, and more than once he glanced sharply into the shadows, thinking he saw something there.

The music was even more intoxicating up close. Ken could feel it like a living thing, encouraging him to dance. The Gypsies asked Ken and his friends to sit, which they did. They had apparently interrupted the Gypsies dinner. Without asking, a Gypsy woman dished up plates for all three of them.

Ken took his without looking at it. Daisuke held his. His brother turned his food over with his knife. He took a cautious bite, and Ken looked at him warningly. Had the Gypsies eaten some of theirs? He hadn't noticed.

Osamu chewed in the way he did when he was given something he hated, and then smiled unconvincingly at a Gypsy man who was watching them. Ken knew that look, it was the one that Osamu wore every time he was forced to eat at Mimi's.

Ken glanced at Daisuke, to find he man looking at the dark-haired boy they had passed coming into the camp.

At that moment, the fiddler finished his beautiful piece of music. 

"Your turn, stranger," he said to Osamu.

"Sorry," Osamu said. "I don't play."

"Then sing us a song," the Gypsy said.

"I'm…not really much of a singer…"

Daisuke finally turned his attention back to what was going on. "Sing something, Osamu," he said softy. "We wouldn't want to insult our hosts."

"But I can't think of anything," Osamu said desperately.

Ken couldn't either. He glanced over his shoulder. The big Gypsy in the back was busily sharpening his knives. He noticed Ken looking at him. "Is our hospitality not worth a song?" he asked.

Ken shrugged at Osamu. Then his brother started in a wavering voice, to sing the old Cher song, "Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves". Surprisingly, he remembered the verses, and even more surprisingly, his voice got stronger and became rather nice as it went along.

Ken hadn't heard his brother sing in a long time. Even if the song was not really what Ken himself would have chosen for the occasion.

As his brother sang, Ken noted another Gypsy man studying Prince Yamato. The man ran his hands along Yamato's back. Ken wanted to do something to stop him, to claim that Yamato was his, but he was afraid of insulting him.

When his brother had finished singing, the man said to him, "Is he real gold?"

Ken's heart sank. How would they get out of this one?

"Oh, no, no," Osamu said. "It's gold paint. He's one of a pair I bough for my driveway, you know, they're both going to sit on the front gates."

The Gypsy man seemed to except Osamu's explanation. Ken wondered if people really did put out gaudy lawn ornaments in the Nine Kingdoms. Ken stood to stretch his legs. He wasn't sure he could sleep here. It was so strange.

He walked toward the birdcages.

"Set me free."

Ken jumped. He looked both ways, but didn't see where the voice had come from.

"Set me free."

He peered into the cages. One of the birds had spoken to him. He wasn't as surprised at that as he would have been a few hours ago. Maybe he was finally getting used to this strange place.

"Please set us free," another bird begged. "We're just little victims."

Daisuke came up behind him. Ken could feel his presence before he heard him speak.

"They are magic birds," he said softly. "Very rare, very hard to catch. Only the Gypsies know how to catch them."

"Little victims," the bird repeated. "Do you understand? Little victims."

Ken felt Daisuke's warmth against his back. "What will happen to them?" he asked.

Daisuke put his hands on Ken's shoulders. Ken didn't fight this touch, he even leaned into it the tiniest bit. It felt nice to have Daisuke so close. "They will have their wings broken and then be sold to rich people," Daisuke answered.

"We won't, will we?" one bird asked. "That's awful."

"Some people even eat them," Daisuke said. "Believing that they absorb their magic through doing so."

"They don't, do they?" the bird chirped again. "That's terrible."

"I have six little babies waiting to be fed," the other bird said. "They're starving to death without me."

"It's so cruel," Ken whispered.

Suddenly, before anyone could say another word, the door to one of the caravans opened, and a young woman emereged. Though her appearance, with her soft skin and long flowing lavender hair, gave the illusion of youthfulness, the young woman looked as if she had lived a long time, and seen many things. To Ken, it seemed like she was truly six hundred years old and had been the meanest person on the planet for five hundred and ninety-nine of those years. Ken felt his hear begin to race.

The young woman fixed her unnerving cinnamon eyes on Daisuke, then Osamu, and then Ken. Ken had never seen eyes like that, and he knew his own fear showed in his face.

This woman, or so someone whispered, was the Gypsies' Queen. Ken began to think that being any kind of a Queen in this place was not a good idea.

"Set up the table," the Gypsy Queen ordered.

The other Gypsies hurried to do her bidding. Quickly they set up a table with a cloth over it and a chair at one end. They placed a tarot deck in front of her, and a bowl of thick red liquid that Ken fervently hoped was not blood. She beckoned for Osamu to sit in the chair. Ken was relieved that he had not been the one chosen by the Queen to sit.

The Gypsy Queen dealt out the cards. "I see great wealth coming to you from a mysterious source," she said to Osamu.

Ken's brother smiled. "I like the sound of that."

"And then disappearing with a dog."

Osamu coughed. "Oh, yes. That."

"I find The Fool," the Gypsy Queen said as she turned over another card.

"What's that's that card?" Osamu asked, pointing to the next card she turned over.

"The Fools' friend, The Oaf," the Queen answered, turning over more cards. "He is joined by The Buffoon and The Village Idiot. And behind him, The Cret--"

"Can we just get back to the financial advice?" Osamu asked.

"There is nothing beneath the surface," the Gypsy Queen said. "I will read the young man." She turned her gaze on Ken.

Ken shook his head. He didn't want this woman looking into his life. "No, thanks," he replied.

The Gypsy Queen stared at Ken. Ken stared back. The Queen's stare grew more and more malevolent. Or perhaps Ken only feared that this was what was happening. Finally he took a deep breath. What would it hurt? Tarot cards existed in his world, after all. They didn't work.

Ken sat in the chair Osamu had just vacated. 

The Gypsy Queen dealt out some cards, then stared at them for a moment before speaking. "You are full of anger. You conceal much about yourself," she commented. Ken just swallowed nervously.

The Gypsy Queen reached into her dress and removed a pair of scissors. With her slender, delicate hands she reached forward, and fingered a lock of Ken's hair. Ken tried not to cringe as the Queen snipped it off. She threw the lock of hair in the red liquid.

"You have a great destiny that reaches far back in time," she said.

Ken snorted. "I'm a waiter, so no prizes so far."

The Gypsy Queen looked at his hair as the strands separated in the liquid. "You have never forgiven your mother for leaving you."

Ken stiffened. That was enough. He stood quickly. "As I said, I don't really desire my fortune read."

Daisuke slipped into the chair, a small smile on his face. "Love and romance, please," he said to the Gypsy Queen as she took his hand and examined his palm. "Marriage, children, how long I will have to wait until the creamy guy of my dreams finally says yes, that sort of thing."

Ken snorted again at Daisuke's request, and moved off. Grateful that someone else had taken his place before the Gypsy Queen.

"I see death," the Gypsy Queen said. "A young girl dead. Torn to pieces."

Daisuke's smile faded and became a rather nervous and fixed one. "Oh, no. I was thinking more along the lines of two boys and three girls -- you know, a family --"

"I see a fire being built," the Gypsy Queen continued. "You are going to be burnt on it."

"No. No!" Daisuke tried to pull his hand away, but the Gypsy Queen kept a firm grip on it.

"You are not what you seem," she accused. Her eyes grew wide. "You are a wolf!"

Knives came out all over the camp. Ken had never seen so many weapons in one place. They glinted in the moving light, like the eyes of the Gypsies themselves. 

Daisuke was the only one of their group that didn't appear alarmed by this. He had stopped struggling with the Queen. "I am a wolf," he said softly in agreement with her words. "But so is your grandson."

The Gypsy Queen gazed at Daisuke for a long moment before releasing his hand and smacking the table. She smiled broadly. "You must stay with us tonight," she said. Speaking it as a command, rather than a request. "Friends must stay together in the dangerous forest."

The word "friend" reassured Ken, but only slightly. He would rather be in this heavily guarded place, trying to get some sleep, than walking through the forest in the dark. He said as much to Daisuke later, who gave him a measuring look, as if he wasn't sure that he would rather be here.

Eventually, Ken lay down by the fire. His brother was beside him, and Daisuke was nowhere to be seen. Ken craned his neck and finally saw Daisuke seated about twelve feet or so away, talking to the young boy, whom he had called the grandson of the Gypsy Queen. There was a tenderness and patience in Daisuke's manner that Ken had never seen before.

He smiled and watched them for a time. But his eyelids got heavier and heavier, and eventually he fell asleep.

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Dragon Lady: _Uh, oh. Things sound like they're just gonna keep getting worse. _**^^;;;**

Ken: _Yeah. Why do you have to write me into these stories again?_

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Dragon Lady: _Ken's past sounds a little dark to me, and Osamu's fortune seems to do a little bit of foreshadowing. Daisuke's really doesn't sound too good, now does it?_ **^_~**

Ken: _Just rest assured with the knowledge that dl hates killing off her characters._

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Dragon Lady: _Do I now?_

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Ken: _Don't mind her. She's just trying to kid you. _

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Dragon Lady: **=P**

Ken: _She's not going to kill anybody. Not really important people anyway. _**^^;;;;**

Dragon Lady: _And for the 10th Kingdom fans who are curious and worried about the Beautiful Sheep and Shepherdess Competition, rest assured that Ken-chan will be dressed accordingly. _**^_~**

Ken: ***pouts* **_Not that he's going to be too happy about it. _**-_-;;;;**

Dragon Lady: _Review! And maybe we'll get to that particular chapter sooner…_

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Ken: _On that thought, don't review._ ****

Dragon Lady: **^^;;;;;;;**


	9. Most Definitely Cursed

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Dragon Lady: _I'm back! With another chapter. _**^_^**

Ken: ***sighs* **_More me torture._

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Dragon Lady: ***giggles* **_How'd you ever guess?_

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Ken: _Dl, I watched you write it._ **-_-;;**

Dragon Lady: **^^;;;** _Oh, yeah._

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Ken: ***shakes head* **

Dragon Lady: _Anyway. Here's chapter nine. Oh goody!_ **^_~**

Ken: _Whatever._

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Dragon Lady: _This chapter's actually longer than most of the others I think._ ***shrugs* **_I just couldn't find a good, early place to end it. It just kept seeming too incomplete, I suppose its because this is where the mini-series left off with the second or third part of it I think. _**^^;;;**

Ken: _So it's still incomplete. Dl hated the cliff hanger they left her on with the mini-series. But she thought she wanted to go and leave her story with the same chapter ending._ **-_-;**

Dragon Lady: **^^;;; **_Well…it's a three day weekend…maybe I'll get the next chapter up a little sooner. _

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Ken: _Read and Review._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The 10th Kingdom

Adapted By: DigimonDragonLady

A hand over his mouth awoke Ken. He opened his eyes and was startled to see Daisuke so close to him. For a moment, Ken was startled. Daisuke must have seen the panic in Ken's eyes, for he held his hand in place a little longer than he probably would have under normal circumstances.

Osamu was quietly gathering their things. A bit of light seeped into the clearing. It was dawn. But the Gypsies still slept. Ken sat up slowly. Daisuke put a finger to his lips just in case Ken didn't understand the importance of remaining silent. But he did. Ken wanted to get out of there as much as Daisuke did.

He did a quick finger comb through his hair, wishing for all the world that he could have a hairbrush, and dusted himself off. Osamu already had Prince Yamato and his little cart pointed in the right direction; Ken could only hope that the carts squeaking wouldn't wake the Gypsies. Daisuke and his brother apparently had the same thought, as they started to carry Prince Yamato out of the camp.

"Set us free," one of the magic birds chirped. "Please set us free."

Ken looked over his shoulder. Daisuke and Osamu had Yamato safely out of earshot now. He glanced at the birds. Their tiny bodies were pressed against the cages. They'd have their wings broken, or worse. All because of what they were.

He couldn't stand it. He'd never be able to live with himself if he didn't help them. It would be like he was the one breaking their delicate wings. Quickly, he began to open the cages and the birds flew free.

"Ken," Daisuke whispered warningly.

Ken heard him, but pretended that he didn't. There were a lot of cages, and a lot of birds. He knew he was ruining someone's work, but at that moment, he didn't care. Lives were at stake.

He had gotten all the cages. And then he looked at the Gypsy Queen's caravan. One more cage, with a single bird inside, hung above the door.

Osamu followed his brothers gaze and groaned softly. Daisuke looked worried. "Oh, no, please," Osamu said to Ken. "That's enough."

Osamu was right. But that single birdcage would bother Ken as much as all of the others had. He bit his lower lip. Three wooden steps led to the door of the caravan. He climbed the stairs carefully, trying desperately to avoid the creaks he knew were there. When Ken reached the stoop, he reached up. He had to stand on tiptoe to reach the cage door. For a moment, his fingers brushed against the catch. Then they hit it, and the door sprung open.

The magic bird inside flew off, but Ken slipped. His foot banged down on the steps. The force of his landing sounded like a gunshot in the still morning air.

He turned just as the caravan door was ripped open. Outlined in the doorway stood the Gypsy Queen, looking quite startled at the noise. Ken leapt up and ran as quickly as he could. The Gypsy Queen was yelling out orders and the others were all waking up. Ken only had a short lead.

He followed Daisuke and his brother's path through the forest, but he couldn't see them anywhere. He knew they had seen what he did. Now where were they hiding?

Behind him, Gypsies pounded through the woods, obviously not caring about how loud they were. Ken stopped for a brief second; he had to figure out the way that Osamu and Daisuke had gone.

Something caught his ankle. He looked down, fearing it was a trap. Then something yanked. Ken fell with a muffled squeak of surprise; sliding down a steep bank. Daisuke pulled him close as the Gypsies ran past, putting a hand over Ken's mouth to stop any sound that he might make.

They were beneath a river bank overhang. The river flowed below them. The dirt had gotten down the back of his shirt, and it made him want to itch. He was breathing hard, and Daisuke's eyes pleaded with him for silence. Ken was trying, really he was, but he needed air. His heart was pounding wildly.

"They can't have got away," a Gypsy above them said. "Search around for them. They're hiding somewhere nearby."

Ken's throat went dry. They weren't hiding all that well. He could hear the Gypsies in the underbrush, snapping twigs, calling to each other. He pressed himself deeper into the bank, and into Daisuke.

Dirt drifted down on them. A Gypsy was right above them. Ken closed his eyes. They would be found. Then, he heard the Gypsy Queen's voice, faint and commanding. The Gypsy above them curse. More dirt fell, and then Ken heard the sounds of the Gypsies moving away from them.

The woods got very silent. Ken opened his eyes. Daisuke was frowning. Osamu was hugging Prince Yamato. If the prince were still alive, Ken wondered how he would feel about all this dragging around.

Daisuke slowly removed his hand from Ken's mouth, and disentangling himself from Ken; then motioned for them to be silent. He climbed up the bank and disappeared for a minute.

A moment later he returned. Osamu turned on him. "What did you do that for?"

Daisuke didn't answer, at least not directly. He dusted himself off and shook his head. "I don't understand," he said. "The woman called off the hunt."

For some reason that news didn't make Ken happy. He felt the way Daisuke obviously did -- the Gypsies wouldn't have called off the search without some reason.

His brother moved away from the bank. "Maybe we just got lucky," he said. "Anyway, let's get going. The sooner we're out of this forest, the better. Help me carry Prince until we get back to the path."

Daisuke looked at the solid gold Prince Yamato with an antipathy that he hadn't shown before, although Ken knew he had felt it.

"Can't we burry him?" Daisuke asked. "We can always come back for him in the future."

"I'm not leaving him," Osamu declared in horror at the proposal. "I got him into this mess, didn't I? And I'm going to get him out."

Ken smiled. His brother really was a gentle person, even though he was one of the world's biggest screw-ups.

But Daisuke wasn't thinking about Prince Yamato anymore. He was looking over his shoulder in the direction of the Gypsy camp.

"I wish I knew why they gave up so easily," Daisuke muttered. "That's not like Gypsies at all."

* * *

The Gypsy Queen stared at the empty birdcage above her caravan door. Seven years of work ruined. And to think she had shown the travelers kindness. Well, they had certainly shown their true natures this morning.

She thought long and hard. She had been alive for many hundreds of years, and had seen many things. Not much of the nine kingdoms was alien to her. And yet, she had never encountered anyone as strange as this group. She had read the cards for the one with the golden dog, and the palm of the wolf. They obviously had something important in their destinies. 

But the other boy…

There was something very different about him. Something more important about him than the other two. What it was though, she could not see. She wished for a moment, that he had allowed her to do a true reading for him. She would have very much liked to have known about him. 

They were on a mission. Some kind of quest. That was for certain. They were searching for something, yes, but they would end up doing much more. If she were as young as she looked, the Queen would have wished to join them. 

Maybe she should just let them go. It might be important for the lives of many that they live. But she shook off the feeling. The caravan was furious with them. And she was their Queen. The rules of the caravan commanded that she do something about it.

She slowly took out the pot that contained the lock of Ken's hair and sprinkled gray powder over it. The liquid caught fire even quicker than she expected it to.

The Gypsy Queen closed her eyes and began to reluctantly began to recite her spell. "Stretch it, twist it, make it grow Like a river, make it flow. Make it grow 'til he grows weak. Make him moan and scream and cry. Make him wish that he would die.

Then she opened her eyes and watched the lock of hair burn. People, no matter who they were, should never take advantage of a Gypsy caravan's kindness -- no matter how important either.

* * *

Daisuke felt uneasy The hackles on the back of his neck had risen, and he wasn't sure as to why. It wasn't just the Gypsies. He knew they were no longer chasing the group, but he didn't know why. Perhaps that was what disturbed him so much -- the not knowing why.

He led the others through the forest. The squeak-squeak-squeak of the cart wheels was really beginning to annoy him. Prince Yamato couldn't talk any more, or act as his high and mighty royal self either, he was a giant hunk of gold, but had somehow managed to become an even bigger pain in the rear. Osamu just wasn't capable of making this better. And knowing Osamu's propensity for messing things up, he would probably only make it worse.

Still, Osamu wasn't responding to Daisuke's not-so-subtle hints that they should get rid of Prince Yamato. In fact, Osamu was acting just a little bit strange. Well, stranger than usual, anyway. He kept glancing at Ken, with a small frown on his face.

Ken must have been noticing this too, because he turned around and gave his brother a look. "What?!" he asked. "You've been looking at me like I've grown a second head for about half an hour now. What?!"

"Your hair looks different," Osamu said calmly, still frowning.

"Right," Ken said sarcastically. "That's because I went to the beautician last night."

"No," Osamu said. "It's grown."

"Grown?"

Daisuke examined Ken's appearance and frowned also. "So it has," he muttered.

It hadn't grown just a little bit. It had grown a lot. Ken reached to his skull and touched his hair. He frowned. He didn't know what was going on, but he wasn't sure that he wanted to know.

Daisuke glanced at Osamu, who raised his eyebrows for an explanation that Daisuke wasn't sure that he was ready to give yet. Instead Daisuke continued leading them forward.

They walked for nearly an hour when Daisuke saw a small pond up ahead. Ken noticed it too, and rushed over to it. He bent over and stared into the waters.

His hair had grown to the middle of his back.

"Oh, no," Ken said, beginning to panic. "It's even longer than it was half an hour ago! What's happening to me? What am I going to do?"

"Braid it?" Osamu suggested.

Daisuke closed his eyes. He had to tell Ken now. It was as he had feared.

"The Gypsies," he said, finally. "They had some of your hair didn't they? They must have put a curse on you."

"What do you mean, a curse?" Ken demanded. "Stop it. This is beginning to freak me out!"

Well it wasn't Daisuke's fault.

He removed the knife from his pocket and held it out, silently asking for permission to cut Ken's hair. Ken nodded his consent, frightened, as if his hair was something completely alien to him, instead of a part of him.

Daisuke attempted to cut his hair with the knife that he held, but it was like trying to cut stone.

"Here, let me try," Osamu offered.

Daisuke handed him the knife, and then stepped back to watch. Ken's hair was growing fast. It was almost to his knees.

Osamu sawed at his brother's hair for a several minutes, and then shook his head. "It's no good," he said in confusion. "The knife won't cut it. It's like steel."

"Maybe the knife is blunt?" Ken suggested. He was trembling.

"There's nothing wrong with the knife," Daisuke said softly.

"This is horrible," Ken moaned. "How do we stop it? How can we uncurse me, or whatever we need to do?" 

Daisuke bit his lip apologetically. "Curses aren't exactly my strong suit," he answered.

"Try pulling just one hair out," Osamu suggested.

Daisuke tugged on a single strand. "Ow!" Ken said after a minute of silent suffering. "Stop it."

"If we gather it up we could wrap it around you like a scarf," Osamu said. "There's got to be some way to stop this."

Daisuke gathered up Ken's hair. There was a lot of it and it was very soft, despite the fact that it was hard as a rock when trying to be cut through. It was fragrant, and beautiful even at its present length. But Daisuke knew better than to tell Ken that. Right now, he was much too upset to take it as a compliment.

He wrapped the hair around Ken, resisting the urge to kiss the young man's furrowed brow. Then he began to lead them deeper into the forest.

They walked for some time, occasionally stopping to get Yamato out of a rut in the road or to wrap Ken's hair around his neck again. Thunder boomed overhead and Ken moaned. Daisuke looked up, and as he did, a sheet of rain fell from the sky as if some mighty being had poured it from a bucket.

He waved Osamu forward -- he wanted to keep an eye on Osamu and Prince Yamato, figuring that in all the mud, they were bound to get stuck -- and he let Ken move past him.

Ken looked depressed, almost as if he had given up hope. Perhaps Daisuke should say something nice about his hair just so Ken could yell at him.

Some of the hair was dragging along the ground behind Ken. Daisuke said nothing, just picked it up and carried it as if it were a train.

The rain was really coming down now. The golden Prince Yamato was spattered with mud, and Daisuke couldn't remember the last time he had gotten this wet. Ken's hair was much heavier wet. He couldn't imagine what it felt like to him.

"I can't go any farther," Ken said. "We've got to stop somewhere."

"Where will we find shelter in the middle of the for--" Then Daisuke stopped. 

He was staring at a small cabin almost hidden by all the overgrown trees. Lightning flared and thunder boomed. The cabin looked pretty abandoned. But it did look as if it had a good strong roof.

"Come on," Daisuke urged.

They ran to the door, Osamu dragging Prince Yamato behind him. The door was covered in white graffiti. Daisuke had to kick it to get it to open for them. It fell back in a spray of age old dust and cobwebs.

"Is anyone home?" Ken asked.

They stepped inside. Everything was covered with dust. But that wasn't what caught Daisuke's attention. His gaze landed upon seven pewter mugs and seven tiny lamps. They were lined up as if someone was still expecting to use them, even though they were covered in eons of dust, just like everything else.

"Its all right," Daisuke said, making sure that the door was closed. "No one's been here in a very long time."

Osamu went up a small flight of stairs, leaving Yamato behind for once. Daisuke continued to examine the seven tiny spoons and seven tiny bowls. Ken was trying to get all the water out of his hair.

"Hey," Osamu called from above them. "Come look at this."

Daisuke and Ken hurried up the stairs after him, afraid of what mischief Osamu could be getting into now. There was a small hole in the roof and some leaves had blown in. The upper level was damp.

But Daisuke didn't give that more than a cursory glance. Instead he stared in gape-mouthed surprise at the seven tiny beds. They were all made of wood, and they all had little quilts and pillows. They were all perfectly straight and, even though they too were covered with dust and leaves, they looked as if they were waiting for their little owners to return home for a good night's rest. 

Something about this place had been bothering him, and Daisuke hadn't been sure about what it was until that moment.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Osamu asked.

Daisuke grinned and stepped in deeper. He couldn't help himself. A curious joy filled him. "Huff puff," he said. "This is Snow White's cottage. This is the Seven Dwarves' house. Its been lost for a very long time."

Daisuke's gaze met Ken's. He smiled at him. "The beds are so tiny," Ken commented.

"This is a great piece of our history," Daisuke said. "What a pity the Prince is a stiff. This is his grandma's cottage."

He was beginning to feel pity for the mutt. That was bad. Still, he stood in this historic for a moment longer before he noticed Ken shiver.

"We should get settled for the night, and get you dry," Daisuke said to him.

Ken nodded. Osamu gave the room one last look, then led them back down the stairs. Daisuke stayed up there alone for a moment. Then he patted a wooden beam and grinned. Hardly anyone had ever seen this place. And he'd been lucky enough to come here. That made this entire forest worthwhile.

Then he too went downstairs.

It took nearly half an hour for him and Osamu to clean up the downstairs and to barricade some furniture against the door, to make sure that nothing would come visiting during the night. Ken was trying to dry his hair. Finally, he gave up and used the wood piled next to the fireplace to build a fire.

By the time Daisuke figured out what he was doing, it was too late.

"We really shouldn't have a fire," he said.

"I don't care," Ken replied, as he held a thick strand of extremely long hair in front of the fire. "I'm not going to sleep with wet hair."

Daisuke sat down close to him and started to help. He didn't want Ken to end up setting his head on fire; though he wasn't exactly sure that the hair could be burned either. Osamu collapsed in a nearby chair. He looked tired too.

"I can't believe I'm asking this," Osamu said, "but what happened to Snow White after she married the Prince?"

Daisuke looked up, surprised that Osamu didn't know. "Why, she became a great ruler. One of the Five Women Who Changed History."

"Five women?" Ken asked. "Who were the others?"

"Cinderella, Queen Riding Hood, Rapunzel, and Gretel the Great. They formed the first Five Kingdoms and brought peace throughout the lands. But they're long gone now. Some say Cinderella is still alive, but she hasn't been seen in public fro nearly forty years. She'd have to be nearly two hundred years old." Daisuke sighed and looked at the roaring fire. "The days of Happy Ever After are long gone now. These are dark days, even though we all pretend they're not."

* * *

Ken was beginning to think that his hair would never dry. Fortunately the new parts, the parts around his skull, were coming out dry.

His brother had long ago gone to bed upstairs. Osamu had gotten Daisuke's help to put four of the tiny beds together so that he could stretch out on them. Osamu had also placed Prince Yamato at the foot of one of the beds as if he were a guard dog on watch.

Ken supposed that he should go to be too, but the fire still burned high, and the bulk of his hair was still wet. And he wasn't really that tired. Not yet, anyway.

Daisuke was still helping him to dry the rest of his hair, holding up parts of it and studying it as if it were the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. It was slightly unnerving, but if the hair didn't frighten Ken so much, he thought he might like that.

But he wanted to think about something else. He leaned closer to the fire's warmth.

"What did you say to that boy?" he asked suddenly. "In the Gypsy camp?"

"Nothing much," Daisuke answered with a shrug. "Just wolf stuff."

Ken smiled. "And what's wolf stuff?"

"I didn't need to say anything to him," Daisuke said. "I just was with him. He had never seen another wolf before. He was scared. It's a lonely path in life to be different. I guess you know that."

Ken made himself smile.

"Where's your mum?" Daisuke asked him, just as suddenly as Ken had asked.

Ken stiffened. What had made Daisuke ask that? He was listening when the Gypsy was reading his fortune, wasn't he? "I have no idea," Ken replied honestly. "She walked out on Osamu and I when I was around six. My father was already dead so…" 

"What happened?" Daisuke rested his chin on his hand and turned toward Ken. His eyes seemed brighter and warmer in the firelight.

Ken looked away from him. "She just left home. I guess she couldn't stand her life anymore. You've met my cousin. My mother was like that. She and my father were a complete mismatch. She was like a beauty queen, and he was just a normal guy who couldn't believe he'd had the luck to be liked by her. They never should have gotten married. Anyway. That was a long time ago."

"Where is she now?" Daisuke asked.

All this probing into his past was beginning to give Ken a headache. "I haven't a clue," he said. "And I honestly couldn't care less."

"You don't wonder what she's like?"

Ken knew what his mother was like, just from his mother's actions so long ago. His mother was a cold woman who only cared about herself. "She could have gotten back in touch with us if she'd wanted to, but she hasn't, and that's just fine with me. She doesn't want me. I'm not going to waste my energy thinking about her."

"Oh," Daisuke said. He was apparently beginning to understand that Ken found this to be a touchy subject.

"Oh, what?" Ken asked.

"Just…oh," Daisuke said. "Oh, as in a noncommittal, encouraging noise. Try not to comment as you listen as my very good self-help books tell me, sort of oh."

Daisuke stroked his hair. Ken sighed. 

"You must do something magnificent with your life," Daisuke spoke softly.

"Oh, yeah?" Ken asked. "Why's that?"

"Because your hurt is so very great," Daisuke said.

"Look, she just left, all right? Doesn't that ever happen where you come from?"

"Of course not," Daisuke said matter-of-factly. "Everyone here either lives happily ever after or we get killed by horrible curses."

That deflated Ken's anger a little bit. 

After a moment, Daisuke asked, "You don't trust anybody, do you?"

"I don't trust you if that's what your asking," Ken replied. Though he knew he was lying to Daisuke and himself when he said that.

That didn't seem to surprise Daisuke though. "Well, maybe you won't get hurt," he said. "But huff-puff, you won't get loved either."

"I don't need love," Ken snapped. "Love is just what people say they feel because they're frightened of being on their own."

"I see," Daisuke responded.

The flatness of his voice caught Ken's attention. He turned to him. Daisuke was really a handsome man. Ken had noticed that from the first. Handsome in a rugged, energetic kind of way.

"Haven't you got anything to say about that?" Ken asked.

"Not at all," Daisuke replied.

But Ken knew that he did. And that Daisuke was simply telling him without words.

* * *

He was warm for the first time in days. And he was sleeping on a soft bed. It felt very nice. It felt…hairy?

Ken's eyes fluttered. As he opened them, he stared at the ceiling, trying to remember where exactly it was that he was. Then he rolled over and saw that he was on a sea of hair.

"Oh, my God," he said.

"What?" Daisuke asked, waking up himself. Then he saw what. He swallowed convulsively. "Uh, oh."

The hair was in all the rooms, going up the stairs. He'd never seen so much hair in all his life.

"It's everywhere!" Ken wailed.

Daisuke continued staring at it as if he'd never seen anything like it. Ken certainly hadn't. He was beginning to hyperventilate. Daisuke put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry," Daisuke said. "We'll solve this." Then he shouted for Ken's brother. After a few moments, Osamu came out of the upstairs room -- and slipped on some of Ken's hair on the stairway. He slid partway down the stairs, catching himself with his arms on the banister.

For a moment he stared at the sea of hair, then he ran back upstairs. Ken felt abandoned, but only for a moment. Osamu came back down with a pair of garden shears.

"Let's take this outside," Daisuke suggested. He scooped Ken up in his arms despite his protests that he could walk perfectly well on his own, thank you very much, and carried him through the room. It took a few minutes of work to remove the furniture from the door, but they managed all right.

The morning was as bright as mornings got in this miserable, awful forest. Daisuke grabbed an axe and helped Ken near a tree. "Stay still," he warned.

Ken nodded. Daisuke brought the axe down on his hair again and again, but still nothing happened.

He looked over his shoulder. Daisuke was now using a handsaw. He brought it back and forth, and stopped as the teeth came off.

"Oh, no," Ken murmured, panic beginning to well within him again.

"Its no good," Osamu said. "Nothing cuts through this."

Ken had known that, but he hadn't really _known_ it. 

"What if it never stops growing?" he whispered.

He saw his brother and Daisuke exchange worried glances. For all their bravado, they were just as frightened as he was.

Ken began to shake.

"Don't despair," a voice said.

They all looked up. One of the magic birds was sitting in an apple tree near them. "Because you saved my life," the magic bird said, "I will tell you how to cut your hair."

Ken let out a small breath. Hope. "Please."

"Deep in this forest," the bird said. "there is a Woodsman with a magic axe that, when swung, never fails to cut through whatever it hits. It will cut your hair, and cure the curse."

Then the bird spread its wings and flew off before Ken could even thank it.

"All right then, let's get moving," Daisuke instructed. "Before Ken's hair gets too long to move."

Ken gave him a frightened look. He hadn't thought of that.

Osamu reached up and plucked a beautiful red apple from a nearby tree. He opened his mouth to take a bite, but Daisuke shouted, "Osamu, no! What are you doing? Don't eat that apple," and knocked it out of his hand.

"Why not?" Osamu asked with a frown.

"Think about where you are!" Daisuke said. "Snow White's cottage."

"Yeah, so?" Osamu asked.

"This apple tree has probably grown from the seeds of the apple that poisoned her."

Ken's breath caught in his throat, and Osamu looked disgusted. "Boy," he complained. "You can't be too careful in this place."

"Come along," Daisuke said again. "We have a lot to do if we're going to catch up with that mirror now."

The mirror. Ken looked at him. With the hair crisis, he had almost forgotten about it. He stood, hoping that this news about the Woodsman would turn their luck to the better.

* * *

Daisuke was getting nervous again. Their progress through the woods was becoming painfully slow. Ken's hair kept getting caught, and all three of them spent more time untangling it than they did walking. And to make matters worse, for the last hour or so, Daisuke kept smelling something new in the air.

It was getting closer.

"I've got a scent," Daisuke said. "I'm sure it's the Huntsman. He's near. We must move faster."

"I can't go any faster," Ken said.

"Ken," Daisuke said. "This man is going to catch us, within the next hour at most."

"What are we going to do?" Osamu asked.

Ken tried to free his hair from a bush. Daisuke looked at it, and knew that running was out of the question. He paced back and forth, thinking for a moment. For the first time on this adventure, he was out of ideas.

Then, suddenly, he knew. "I'll hide you!" he exclaimed. "I'll hide you and then lead him away. I can loose him no problem."

"Wait a minute," Osamu said frowning. "How do we know you'll come back?"

"Because," Daisuke answered calmly. "My life is dedicated to making love to your brother."

Osamu's eyes narrowed. "That's not what I wanted to hear."

Daisuke ignored him. Reluctant brother-in-laws were a luxury at the moment. "The Huntsman is very good," Daisuke said. "But he follows tracks. He can't smell things like an animal. I'll lead him in a big circle and come back for you tomorrow. Hurry. We'll start with the Prince."

It took Daisuke most of that hour to cover Prince Yamato, Osamu, and Ken with leaves and twigs. Prince Yamato proved the hardest. Every time Daisuke thought he had finished, he saw another glint of gold.

"That's as good as I can do," Daisuke said, finally. "Okay?"

There was a slight movement among the leaves and a hand -- Ken's, beautiful and delicate -- rose up and gave a small wave. Then Osamu's slightly larger hand rose from ten feet away. Daisuke half expected to see Yamato raise a golden paw.

"Don't breath at all until I return."

The hands disappeared and Daisuke checked the area to make sure all trace of the three was gone. No footprints, no sneaky strands of hair, nothing.

He nodded once, then bounded off, intent on leaving a trail that even the dumbest hunter could follow with ease.

* * *

Ken's eyes itched. His nose was twitching too. The leaves had an autumnal small and beneath that, mold. Mold had been bothering him ever since they got into this miserable forest. He was mildly allergic to it, and the allergy seemed to be growing worse at the moment. He had sneezed a lot in Snow White's cottage, and he was breathing shallowly now to prevent another sneeze.

He wished he could talk with his brother. Osamu was only a few feet away and Ken couldn't even hear him. He was too keyed up to fall asleep. Besides, he was afraid he'd snore or talk or shift in his sleep.

And he was worried about his hair. He wasn't sure how he would keep it hidden. It had filled almost the entire cottage the night before. He was worried that it would fill this part of the forest by the time Daisuke returned.

Daisuke. Funny, how Ken had no doubts about him. He knew he'd be back. He was sincere in his comment to his brother. Daisuke would be coming back for him.

Then he stiffened. There was a different sound in the forest. Not quite footsteps. The dray leaves, rustling in the slight breeze, were simply rustling more. He wondered if that was his imagination working overtime, or if it was something that he had to worry about.  
There were other creatures in the forest. But Ken knew that this was the Huntsman. He didn't know how he knew. Maybe being around Daisuke had finally tuned his senses. But something in the sound -- its regular rhythm, perhaps -- told him that someone was trying to be very, very quiet in their movements.

The leaves didn't exactly cover his eyes. He could see if he squinted. As he watched, a tall blond man appeared. Ken tried to hold his breath, but his heart was now beating faster than ever. It was hard to be quiet, suddenly, when it was really and truly important to.

The itch in his eye grew, and the desire to sneeze with it. He held his breath, hoping that would work.

The Huntsman, stopped. He was peering at the ground. He appeared to be following a trail of some sort. He walked slowly toward Ken, and he saw what he saw -- a strand of his hair poking out of the leaves.

Damn. Ken had known that was going to happen. He willed his hair to stop growing, but it didn't.

The Huntsman walked closer until he came up beside Ken. His right boot landed near Ken's face. The man continued past him. He heard leaves rustle as he went deeper into the wood. In a moment, they would be safe.

Unfortunately, that thought made him breath a little deeper and the sneeze Ken had stifled earlier came. He was unable to stop it. The sound exploded in the woods, and he actually heard the startled squawk of birds as they flew away.

Ken sat up. It was all over now. "Run, Sam! Run!"

He managed to get to his feet just as his brother bolted down the path. Ken ran quietly, but as fast as he could. He felt as if he weighed five thousand pounds. All the hair was a handicap, a serious one. It made him at least three times as heavy as he was.

He didn't hear any footsteps behind him. Up ahead, he could see his brother, blazing a fairly obvious trail. He ran faster and faster. Suddenly something pulled on his head and knocked his feet from under him.

He landed on his back. The air left his body in a painful rush. It took him a moment to realize what had happened. His hair had snagged on something.

He turned and saw, at least forty feet away, that his hair hadn't snagged on anything at all. The Huntsman was standing on the ends of it, holding a wicked looking crossbow, and smiling. 

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Dragon Lady: _Uh, oh. Poor Ken! Everything bad always seems to happen to him, doesn't it?_ **^_~**

Ken: ***rants* **_Okay, first I have to deal with Trolls in my world, then I'm kidnapped by Trolls in the 4th Kingdom world. Then I'm rescued by a wolf. Then I'm cursed. And now I've been caught by an evil, actually intelligent agent of the Queen! _****

Dragon Lady: _Look at it this way Ken, at least you're not gold._ **^^;;;**

Ken:** -_-;;;;;;**

Dragon Lady:_ I don't know. I still think Yamato has it worse than you. At least you've got a way to be rescued. _

****

Ken: ***sighs in irritation* **_But not until the next chapter I don't! _

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Dragon Lady: _True. Very true._

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Ken: _You'd better work on that next chapter fast! I expect another one by at least tomorrow!!_

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Dragon Lady: **o.O **_Its taken me almost all afternoon to type this one up!_

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Ken: _Tough!_

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Dragon Lady: _Review. And maybe it'll help me speed up with the chapter writing. _**^_~**


	10. Rapunzel, Rapunzel

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Dragon Lady: _Okay, I'm moving fast again. Barely a whole day between chapters on the weekend. _**^^;;;**

Ken: _That's all right. That last one was an awful cliffhanger. _****

Dragon Lady: _Sorry. _**^^;;;**

Ken: _Of course this chapter doesn't end much better**. **_-_-;

Dragon Lady: **^^;;;** _I told my friend that I had this enormously strong urge to end the last chapter with the words, "Ken was alive but taken by the enemy." _***laughs* **_For any Lord of the Rings fans out there. _**^_~** _Wouldn't that have been just too cruel? Lol. _

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Ken: _That's just great dl. No one cares._

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Dragon Lady: **=P **_You're a mean muse, Ken-chan, ya know that?_

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Ken: _Most definitely. _**^^;;;**

Dragon Lady: **^^;;**

Ken: _Anyway, they want to read the next chapter. _

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Dragon Lady: _Oh, right. As if anyone reads these rants anyway…_**^^;;;** _I know all you people skip them completely and go straight to the story._

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Ken: _Yeah. Most people aren't you and don't often read the author's rants. Why do you think there are so many flamers out there? _

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Dragon Lady: **^^;;;;;** _Good point. _

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Ken: _Yeah. Well. Dl's gonna let you go read the story now. If you even bothered to read this that is. And if you didn't you're already reading the story. But you shouldn't have without my permission anyway._ **=P**

Dragon Lady: _Ken. You are one strange muse…_**^^;;;;**

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The 10th Kingdom

Adapted By: DigimonDragonLady

The Huntsman was dragging Ken along by his hair. His back hurt and he twisted around, desperately trying to gain purchase on the ground. He couldn't. This was, without a doubt, the most painful thing he had ever experienced.

"Stop it!" Ken shouted. "You're hurting me.'

The Huntsman, however, didn't seem to hear him. Finally he stopped, though, and yanked Ken to his feet.

They stood in front of a massive oak tree covered in ivy. Ken watched him reach out a hand and press the side of it. The ivy rose with a rustling sound, and then a door opened inward.

The scent of fresh wood mixed with old blood wafted out. Ken's heart beat even faster. The Huntsman pulled him inside, and then the door closed. Ken couldn't even see the outlines of where it had been.

The man let go of his hair. Ken reached to the nape of his neck and rubbed. The area throbbed. He lit a small lantern, and Ken could see where he was, though he immediately wished that he couldn't.

It was a small room, filled with a butchers block -- blood stained of course -- with many knives, obviously used, and a wooden floor covered with feathers and skin and dark dried blood. There were animal carcasses stretched out on various boards. Some hung upside down. There were bloodstains around the necks.

Ken could hear his own shallow breathing. He was terrified, and he couldn't help it. Somehow he knew that this man knew of his terror too, and probably enjoyed every minute of it.

"Why is your hair so long?" His voice startled Ken. It was soft and deep and cultured, not at all what he had been expecting.

"I think I upset the Gypsies," Ken said in a whispered voice.

He nodded, as if this were not unexpected news. "They will not trouble you again," he told him.

Ken did not find this reassuring. He looked at the Huntsman's hands. They had something dark, probably blood, crusted under the nails. Had he killed the Gypsies for trespassing in his woods? Or did he mean, by that cryptic statement, that Ken would die soon?

He picked up a knife. Ken felt himself shiver. "Where is the dog?" he asked Ken quite calmly.

"I don't know what --"

The knife glinted in the dim light of the room. "Don't," he said, "make me ask again."

Ken swallowed. "I think he's dead."

The Huntsman's pale eyes met his. "You're lying, but you're not lying. Is he hurt? You were dragging something on wheels, yet the tracks were too deep for the weight of just a dog."

Suddenly grabbed Ken and pulled him forward until they were mere inches apart. Ken tried not to gag. He stank of fresh blood.

"The others," he said. "Will they come for you?"

"Me?" Ken squeaked. "They don't give a damn about me." He tried to make his lie sound convincing.

"So they will come." Apparently that hadn't worked well. Somehow he saw through Ken. "Do they have weapons?"

"Yes," Ken said firmly.

"No weapons," he said, releasing Ken. He staggered backwards.

Ken leaned heavily against the wooden wall, wondering how he was ever going to escape.

* * *

Osamu was hiding behind a tree, peering back into the darkness. He had no idea how far he'd run. All he knew was that after a time, he couldn't hear Ken behind him. He'd stopped and called for him and he hadn't answered.

He wasn't sure if he should go back for his brother or try to find Daisuke. If only he was still in New York. There, at least, he might stand a chance of making the right decision. Here, all bets were off.

There was a noise behind him. Osamu whirled but saw nothing.

"It's me," Daisuke whispered in his ear.

Osamu turned, hand over his mouth to stifle a scream. Daisuke was standing in front of him, hair slightly mussed, looking winded. "What happened?" he asked.

"He's got Ken. That's what happened." The words came out sounding angry than Osamu had planned, but he couldn't help it. He had always looked after his little brother through everything. And now he was gone. Again.

Daisuke suddenly looked very panicked. "Oh, no! We'll never find them."

"We've got to find him," Osamu said.

Daisuke tried to swallow his fear. After a moment, he nodded. Together, they went back to the hiding place. And then they started to search. As they walked, Daisuke was looking more and more upset with every passing second in which they did not turn up any clue. 

He kept muttering and whimpering. "I've lost my one true love," he whined softly in the back of his throat.

"Would you know off that "true-love" nonsense?!" Osamu snapped. "You're just some sneaky, underhanded ex-con, and you've brought us nothing but trouble."

"Don't you talk to me like that," Daisuke growled at him. "I'll bite you in a minute, just see if I don't!"

"Oh is that so?" Osamu asked. "All right then, come on." Osamu was tense and ready for a fight, he hadn't lived in New York all his life and learned nothing. And it was this man's stupid idea that might have cost his brother's life.

"I'd like to see you try," he sneered in a challenge.

Daisuke snarled at him deep in his throat, and for a moment it looked like he was actually going to take Osamu up on that. Then, suddenly, he relaxed and put a finger to his lips. "Listen," he instructed Osamu.

Osamu relaxed too, frowning, but doing as he had been told. He heard the faint sound of chopping. He glanced at Daisuke, who looked just as surprised as Osamu did. They walked toward the sound. It only took them a moment to reach a clearing.

In the middle of it, a tall, blond haired man was standing next to a pile of wood. On a tree stump was a single piece of timber. The man had an axe in his hand and was obviously using the might stump as his chopping block.

"Halt!" The Woodsman commanded. "Who approaches?"

He didn't wait for an answer. He brought his axe down on a bit of wood and cut in clean in half with a single powerful blow. Some of the wood chips hit his hat, which was upside down beside the chopping block.

"Forgive us, noble Woodsman," Daisuke said, "but have you happened to have seen a gorgeous young man with very long hair?"

"I haven't seen anything," the Woodsman replied. "I'm blind."

"A blind _Woodsman_?" Osamu asked skeptically.

"Have you ever seen a tree move?" the man asked. His eyes were clouded over and he wasn't really looking at either Osamu or Daisuke. 

Osamu raised an eyebrow and glanced at Daisuke, but the wolf merely shrugged. They were about to leave, when Daisuke grabbed hold of Osamu's arm, stopping him.

"Look at his axe, Osamu," Daisuke murmured. He spoke up, directing his question to the Woodsman. "That wouldn't happen to be the magical axe that can cut through anything, would it?"

"It could be," the Woodsman replied.

"How much do you want for it?" Osamu inquired.

"You may have my magic axe if you can guess my name."

He split another log as he spoke.

"But your friend must kneel down on this block, and if you have not guessed my name by the time I have chopped all these logs into firewood, I will cut off his head."

Osamu stared at him in disbelief. "What is it with you people?!" he demanded. "What kind of twisted upbringing did you have? Why can't you just say it's a hundred gold coins or something?!"

"Do you want the axe or not?" The Woodsman asked.

"Why don't we just carry on looking for Ken?" Daisuke suggested, and made to walk away, but this time it was Osamu who stopped him.

"No, wait a minute." They would need the axe for when they found Ken, and the Woodsman might be long gone if they searched for his brother first, and then tried to come back for the axe.

"It's all right, I know this one," Osamu said. "We accept."

Daisuke looked worried and nervous. "Well don't accept on my behalf," he said quickly.

"I know it," Osamu insisted. 

"Very well," replied the Woodsman. "Put your head on the block while your friend guesses."

Daisuke shot Osamu a dark look, but crouched down obediently beside the chopping block. Slowly Daisuke lowered his head to it on the far end, as far from the axe as he could get. He seriously hoped that Osamu knew what he was doing, but something told him that the other man didn't have a clue.

The Woodsman flipped over another hinged block of wood attached to the chopping block, trapping Daisuke's head in a crude version of a stock with a loud slam.  
Or, Osamu thought, the thing that held the neck in place for the guillotine.

Daisuke swallowed, looking at Osamu and making a small whining sound in the back of his throat.

Osamu's heart was pounding. "Hey, don't worry," he said. He didn't sound as reassuring as he'd hoped to. Osamu took a deep breath and said, "All right, Mr. Woodsman, your name is Rumpelstiltskin."

"Nope."

Osamu frowned. "I said Rumpelstiltskin," he spoke louder the second time, just in case the guy hadn't heard him correctly.

"Guess again," the Woodsman replied.

"Rumpelstiltskin Junior? Rumpelstiltskin the Fourth!"

The Woodsman shattered another log. "No."

"Does it have a Rumple in it?"

"Osamu, please tell me this wasn't your big idea," Daisuke moaned.

Osamu looked at him and tried not to let his fear show. But he had this funny, sinking feeling that he had failed.

* * *

This time, the Huntsman held Ken's arm as he dragged him up a winding circular staircase cut into the center of the enormous tree. His hair, getting with each passing minute, dragged behind him. They climbed for what seemed like forever, and then finally emerged into a small tower room. The room had light, though, Ken was relieved to see a small hole cut into the wall.

A window large enough for him to escape from.

The Huntsman dragged him over to it, and Ken's momentary hope disappeared instantly.

They were at least fifty feet above the forest floor.

"I was born in this forest," the Huntsman told Ken softly, "a hundred miles north of here."

Ken looked out. There were trees everywhere. He could actually see the extent of the forest. It seemed to go on forever. The view was breathtaking and depressing at the same time.

"When I saw the Queen for the first time, I was still a Forester. She came to my village. It was a cruel winter and everyone was starving, children grubbing in the snow for roots to eat. She stopped her hunting party to water the horses. The Queen called me forward. She saw something in me. And she showed me this."

He took out his crossbow. Ken had seen it before, but not up close. It was made of wood and silver. In its leather harness, were many razor-sharp silver bolts. Ken had never seen a crossbow up close before. He had no idea how terrifying they really were.

"When this crossbow is fired," the Huntsman told him, "the bolt will not fall until it has found the heart of a living creature. It cannot miss. In one day I could kill enough food to keep the whole village alive all winter. I said, 'What must I do to win this magic crossbow?' And she said, 'Just close your eyes and fire it wherever you wish, and it shall be yours.'"

He plucked a bolt and placed it in position. Now the crossbow looked even more fearsome. Ken was trembling but staring at it and listening in morbid fascination. 

"I turned away from the village and all the people and fired deep into the thick of the forest. The bolt left the bow like gossamer. It sped a mile through the trees and killed a child playing in the forest."

He stared at Ken. It seemed as if his eyes were even more intense than they had been before.

"I remember the Queen's face as I pulled the bolt from my son's heart. She looked at me and said, 'You will be my Huntsman.'"

Ken held his breath in horror.

"So you understand," the Huntsman told him softly. "I have no interest in mercy. The hunt is the only thing that interests me. Life and death are simply manners of sport."

* * *

The blind Woodsman had cut through more wood than Osamu cared to think about. And Daisuke was beginning to look panicked.

"Bill?" Osamu asked.

"No," the Woodsman said and split another log.

"Ben, Jerry?"

"Cold," the Woodsman said, continuing to chop the wood.

"Elvis? Sammy? Frank? John? Paul? George? Ringo?"

"Ringo?" Daisuke asked, looking at Osamu.

"Colder," the Woodsman said. "Way off."

"Does it begin with an A?"

"I'm not playing that game."

"Osamu," Daisuke said. "I'm starting to loose faith in you."

"Ray? Mike?"

"Nope."

"Give me a clue," Osamu said. He was beginning to hyperventilate. Everything he did in this place turned out wrong. "What fun would it be just to kill him?"

"A lot of fun, actually," the Woodsman said. "You could almost say it was the reason for my existence." He grinned as he brought the axe down on another innocent piece of wood.

"How do we know you won't lie about your name?" Daisuke demanded.

Osamu nodded. Maybe he could get them out of this. "Yeah, maybe I've already said it."

"You haven't guessed my name," the Woodsman said. "You are nowhere near. My name is written in my cap."

"You've done this before, haven't you?" Osamu scowled.

"Hundreds of times," the Woodsman agreed.

"And exactly what was the percentage of correct guesses?" Daisuke asked.

"No one, has ever guessed my name."

Daisuke groaned.

Osamu leaned over and peered at the cap. There was a white strip on it that clearly had the Woodsman's name written on it. Daisuke strained to see it, but shook his head. Osamu inched closer.

"I may be blind," the Woodsman told him, "but my hearing is excellent. Move any closer to it and I'll chop your friends head off now."

* * *

Ken was very cold. The Huntsman still had his crossbow in his hands, bolt pointed out the window.

"Who is this Queen?" Ken asked. "How could you serve someone who made you kill your own son?"

"It was my destiny to kill my son. And hers to ask me."

He spoke so calmly. Then slowly, he turned the crossbow towards Ken.

"You're crazy," Ken said. "Everyone in this whole entire place is crazy."

"Everything that is meant to happen will always happen, no matter what we do," the Huntsman said. "Just as it is my destiny to kill you now."

He put a hand on Ken's shoulder and pushed him until he bent his legs. He kept pushing until he knelt before him. He pressed the crossbow against his forehead. Ken could feel the coldness of the wood, and shivered.

"Who are you?" the Huntsman asked.

"I am nobody," Ken answered. "I swear I'm nobody."

"Then I will kill you."

He had drawn back the string when suddenly a tiny bell went off. The Huntsman looked up with a frown and brought the crossbow down.

"I have business to attend to," the Huntsman said. "I will finish your interrogation later."

Then he left. 

Ken had no idea how things in this place always went from bad to worse.

* * *

There were only two pieces of wood left, and Osamu was out of ideas. Daisuke had his eyes closed, apparently so that he wouldn't see the final blow when it came. 

"Is it the Mad Axeman?" Osamu asked.

"I told you you'd never guess," the Woodsman replied.

Suddenly Osamu noticed one of the magic birds fly onto the chopping block and look down at the Woodsman's cap. Then the bird flew off again. Was the thing just being perverse? Or was it actually going to help?

Osamu had to stall somehow. "Is it…hold on a minute, a name's forming in my mind."

The Woodsman split the second log. "Running out of logs," he said. "Better hurry up."

"No, wait," Osamu said. "Wait just a minute. It's coming to me."

The Woodsman split the final log. "Too late," he said. "Now I will have your friends head."

Daisuke's eyes and in them Osamu could see a horrible look of hurt and betrayal. 

The magic bird landed on Osamu's shoulder and whispered in his ear. The Woodsman raised his axe over Daisuke's head.

"I said hold on just a minute," Osamu said. "Juliet."

The Woodsman froze, and for the first time Osamu felt as if the man were actually looking straight at him.

Daisuke was looking at him as if he were crazy.

And Osamu started to smile.

* * *

"Damn." Ken tugged on the heavy iron manacles that the Huntsman had put him in when he had at first been brought to this room.

He didn't know what to do. His brother and Daisuke were out there somewhere. Probably looking for him. But he didn't think they'd ever find him before the Huntsman returned. He was going to die. The Huntsman's "business" had only allowed him a short time longer.

Then he saw a movement at the window. The magic bird he had saved last from the Gypsies was standing on the sill.

"Because you helped save us, we will help you again," said the magic bird. "But this really has to be the last time. You're such an awful lot of trouble."

"Go and find my brother and Daisuke," Ken said. "Tell them where I am. Tell them to come and get me, please."

The bird nodded once and flew off. Ken watched it go until he could no longer see its movements through the trees. He jerked on the chains again and stared desperately out the window. He only hoped that they would get there in time.

* * *

Daisuke was carrying the magic axe over his shoulder and heading back toward the place where they had buried Prince Yamato once again. He still had no idea where Ken was, nor how to find him.

Still, he was very relieved to have his head.

"Who would have thought it?" Daisuke said to Osamu. "Juliet the Axeman."

"No wonder he turned into such a sick sadist," Osamu said, and then he stopped walking. Daisuke almost ran into him. Osamu was looking up into a tree.

"Look," Osamu told him. "Its another one of those magic birds."

Actually it was the same magic bird that had told them about the Woodsman, but Daisuke didn't bother to correct him.

"I know where Ken is," the magic bird said. "He is in a tree that is not a tree, in a place that is not a place."

Osamu thought about that for a moment, muttering about trees, and then he scowled. "That doesn't make any sense to me," he growled in annoyance. "Can you just take us there?!"

For a moment, Daisuke thought the bird was going to fly away. Then it sighed, lifted its wings and flew at Daisuke's eye level.

They followed the bird for some time. Then the bird stopped in front of a mighty oak. "He's inside the tree," the magic bird said. "'Bye!"

"Wait!" Osamu called after it. "How can he be in a tree?!"

"Ken!" Daisuke shouted at the tree. "Ken, are you in there?"

"Daisuke?" Ken shouted back.

His voice was very far away. It also came from above them. Daisuke looked up. Ken was looking down from a great height.

"How do we get in?" Osamu shouted up at him.

"There's a door," Ken said.

A door. Daisuke went around the tree. Neither of them so a door.

"There's no door," Osamu muttered. "There's definitely no door, Ken!"

"Oh, if he's concealed it with magic it could take weeks to find!" Daisuke said. 

"Why don't you come down and open it from the inside?" Osamu asked Ken.

They heard the sound of rattling metal. "I think that would have been the first thing I would have done if I weren't chained up, Osamu!" Ken snapped at him. "Can't you climb up the tree?"

Daisuke looked at the ivy covered tree trunk. "There's no footholds."

"Well, I don't know, get a ladder or something. Just…whatever you do, hurry!"

"A ladder?" Osamu said sarcastically. "We're in the middle of a forest for crying out loud."

Daisuke looked around, hoping to see something, anything that he might be able to climb. "If this axe really cuts through anything," Osamu said, "I could try chopping down that tree."

"Chop down the tree?!" Ken shouted. "With me in it?! I don't think so!"

Daisuke frowned thoughtfully as an idea came to him. "Ken," he said casually, "just how long would you say your hair is now?"

"I don't know. Long. It's longer than ever," Ken moaned. "It's…"

He paused, and then Daisuke knew that he understood.

"No." Ken said. "No!"

"That's a great idea!" Osamu said.

"NO!" Ken shouted. "You are NOT climbing up this tree with my hair…"

"I've always wanted to say this," Daisuke grinned and winked at Osamu. Then he called up to Ken, "Love of my life, let down your lustrous locks."

A moment of silence, and then, ten pounds of hair landed in his face. He brushed it off and held it in his hands for a moment. He'd have to use it like a rope and climb the tree as if it were a mountain.

He started at the base, then climbed as rapidly as he could. Ken's cries of pain were heartbreaking. Daisuke was only slightly offended. He wasn't that heavy.

"Look out below," Daisuke shouted down to Osamu. 

"What is it?" Osamu asked. 

"Dandruff," Daisuke said.

"Ow," Ken said. "I don't have --"

"Some people just can't take a joke," Daisuke muttered.

"Yeah, Ken," Osamu laughed. "Keep your hair on."

Ken growled at them. And then shouted out in pain again.

Daisuke tried to put as much weight as possible on his feet, so as to spare Ken as much agony as possible, but he still knew that he was pulling awfully hard on his head. At least he knew the hair was tougher than steel right now, and wouldn't pull out.

Ken was still yelling in pain.

Daisuke tried to say something to take his mind off of it. "What a moment in my life." He knew he was babbling, and he didn't care. "My second opportunity to save you. My story will be immortalized in song, there's no question of that."

Ken didn't respond. Even his "ows" had stopped. Daisuke had to get some kind of reaction out of him.

"Uh, oh," Daisuke said. "Another gray one."

More silence. Daisuke hurried the last few feet, then climbed over the windowsill and pulled himself in.

"Ta-da!" Daisuke said, standing in front of Ken. "Your Prince has arrived."

He swept Ken off of his feet. He was pale from the pain. Daisuke pulled Ken close and kissed him. He was pleasantly surprised when Ken kissed back for a brief second. Then he was shoved away.

"Do you think you can get me out of these?" Ken asked him.

"Of course," Daisuke said. "You get the full rescue service with me. And when I'm done, I will carry you off into the sunset and we'll be married immediately and have beautiful children and live happily ever after."

Ken rolled his eyes. "I'll just settle for getting out of the chains, thank you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Dragon Lady: _Awwwwww. More Daiken moments._ **^_^ *giggles* **_Ken's weakening, I just know it._ **^^;;;**

Ken: _If you say so. I know what happens later though. Why do you make me so darn mean to Daisuke?_ **=P**

Dragon Lady: **^^;;;;** _Because it makes for a sweet forgiveness scene. _

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Ken: ***rolls eyes***

Dragon Lady: _I'm seriously going to hate writing the sad chapters though._ **;_;** _And I'm approaching them pretty fast now. Noooo!_

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Ken: _I told you there were down sides to putting this out. One is me wearing that --_

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Dragon Lady: ***puts hand over Ken's mouth* **_Shush. _**^^;;;** _Don't spoil it. _

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Ken: ***rolls eyes***

Dragon Lady: _I seriously disliked Virginia (the character who Ken plays for any non 10th Kingdom fans) at one point in the movie/mini-series/whatever, for hurting Wolf (Daisuke's character of course). _

Ken: **^^;;;;**

Dragon Lady: _Anyway. I'll go work on the next chapter and leave you people to your reviewing, yes? _**^^;;;**

Ken: _See…now they're not gonna review. Because we put the review request in our rant and nobody reads these things, remember?_

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Dragon Lady: _Ken…you're on sugar or something right now, aren't you? _

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Ken: **^^;;;; **_Review! _


	11. Little Bo-...Sheep?

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Dragon Lady: _All right. Next chapter coming right up. I'm moving pretty fast on this again._ **^^;;**

Ken: _That's good._

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Dragon Lady: _Good news. We reached the halfway mark last chapter! _**^_^ **

Ken: _Which means only about ten more chapters for dl to go. _**^^;;;**

Dragon Lady: **-_-;;;**

Ken: _You brought it on yourself._

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Dragon Lady: _Yeah, yeah. I know. You don't have to keep reminding me. _**^^;;;**

Ken: _But I like reminding you. _

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Dragon Lady: _Anyway, this chapter and the next one are two of my favorites out of the whole of the 10th Kingdom. _**^_^**

Ken: _So Dl's going to let you go read now. Before she babbles too much._

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Dragon Lady: **^^;;;;**

Ken: _Remember to review!_

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Dragon Lady: **^_^**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The 10th Kingdom

Adapted By: DigimonDragonLady

The end of Ken's hair flopped at Osamu's feet as Daisuke disappeared up into the giant tree. Osamu wasn't quite sure how they were going to get out of that place. They certainly couldn't climb back down Ken's hair. He glanced at the axe he held in his hands. Maybe he should have had Daisuke carry it up with him and then axe off Ken's hair when he got up there and tie the ends to a bedpost or something.

Osamu frowned and gauged the height of the tree. He probably couldn't throw the axe that high, and Ken definitely wouldn't appreciate it if someone else tried to climb up his hair. He'd wait to see if they'd need his help.

Then he heard something behind him. He turned around quickly.

A tall, pale man carrying an evil looking crossbow was walking toward the tree house. Even though he had never seen him, Osamu knew that this had to be the Huntsman.

He muttered a string of curses under his breath that would have made a sailor blush and hid himself behind the nearest tree. He gripped the axe tightly in his hands. He knew he had to do something now, but he wasn't sure of what he could do. All the plans he had come up with so far had been dismal failures.

So he bit his lower lip and waited.

* * *

"Careful you don't trip over your hair," Daisuke cautioned.

Ken was slowly picking his way down the stairs and Daisuke was helping him. This hair situation had gotten way out of control. If he'd only had his normal haircut, he would have been out of this tree house and far away already. Possibly on his way home.

He had reached the carcasses on the first floor when the door opened suddenly. The Huntsman came in and frowned in surprise at the sight of Daisuke. Daisuke immediately jumped in front of Ken, but over his shoulder he could see Osamu running up behind the Huntsman.

His brother had an axe.

"Stay back, Ken," Daisuke shouted. Apparently Daisuke had spotted Osamu as well, and was trying for a diversion.

But it didn't work. The Huntsman turned just as his brother reached him. He kicked the door shut quickly, trapping Osamu's body half in and half out.

Osamu was flailing around with the axe, but the Huntsman somehow managed to grab his arm. Daisuke dived at both of them, knocking the Huntsman back against one of the tables. Carcasses fell everywhere. Daisuke slid in the blood on the floor, but somehow managed to retain his grip.

Knives scattered.

Ken was frozen. Unsure of what to do. If he picked up one of the knives in an attempt to help, he might get Daisuke instead of the Huntsman.

The Huntsman grabbed Daisuke's throat with one hand and one of the knives with the other. Daisuke struggled madly, yanking on the Huntsman's wrist to try and free himself. Twisting desperately to escape his grasp.

"Ken!" Daisuke shouted. "Get the axe!"

That stopped his indecision. He ran to the door where Osamu was stuck, and removed the axe gently from his hand.

"Chop his head off!" Daisuke shouted at him. "Stick it in his back -- I don't care what you do! Anything!"

Ken raised the axe, and then hesitated. He'd never killed anyone before. He wasn't sure that he could do it.

"Do it!" Daisuke yelled at him, still struggling with the Huntsman. 

Ken closed his eyes tightly and brought the axe down as hard as he could. He heard a thunk, and then he opened his eyes again. He'd completely missed the Huntsman, and hit the wooden table on which they were wrestling instead, chopping it cleanly in half. Daisuke and the Huntsman had fallen backwards onto the floor. The knife moved away from Daisuke's throat and the Huntsman started screaming.

It took Ken a moment to realize what had happened. The Huntsman had fallen back onto one of his iron traps. It had closed on his leg. There was a lot of blood, but he was still waving the knife.

Daisuke picked up a nearby piece of wood and hit the Huntsman over the head with it. He fell back, unconscious.

Ken let out a sigh of relief. Daisuke wiped off his forehead. They looked at each other and Ken knew that if either of them had acted a moment later than they had, one of them would be dead.

"Open this door!" Osamu demanded, breaking into Ken's thoughts. "I'm completely squashed."

Ken and Daisuke hurried over to the door and managed to squeeze it open. Ken didn't know how Osamu could have stood it. The thing was heavy. When they'd gotten it open Osamu stumbled in, clutching his ribs.

"What is this place?" Osamu asked curiously, looking around.

"A very bad place," Daisuke answered with a slight shudder. "Come on. Let's go."

"Wait. We can't leave him like that," Ken said. He was looking at the Huntsman. 

"You're right," Daisuke agreed. "Here. Give me the axe. I'll do it."

Ken was appalled. "No! We can't kill him."

"Of course we can," Daisuke replied, calmly and logically. "He'd kill us."

"That's not the point!" Ken protested. "He's helpless."

"Exactly why we should kill him now." Daisuke raised the axe over his head and started to bring it down.

"Daisuke, no!"

"But he'll come after us."

"I don't care," Ken said. "We're not going to kill him, and that's final."

Ken couldn't stand it. The Huntsman might not be an innocent man, but he could no longer defend himself. He knew that from all he had been taught, all that was within his culture and his life, that killing a defenseless man was very, very wrong. 

After a moment of glaring at each other, Daisuke sighed. He turned away from the Huntsman. He raised his dark eyes to look at Ken. Ken saw something, a look on his face that he had never seen before. Something reflected deep within the melted chocolaty brown eyes. A sorrow, a worry.

"You'll live to regret this moment," he warned Ken sadly.

* * *

Finally, a break in the trees. Daisuke grinned. It had taken them half a day longer than he had thought it would. But the three of them had done it. They had stayed strong together, just like the old woman's sticks. 

Osamu had retrieved Yamato, though it had taken them the better part of an hour to uncover him from the ground, and Ken's hair was back to its usual length. For the moment, life looked good.

"It's the end of the damned forest," Osamu said in amazement. He turned to look at Daisuke. "I thought you said it was a thousand miles."

"And it is," Daisuke agreed. "A thousand miles long. But not very wide."

Ken looked positively stunned. He looked good stunned. Of course, in Daisuke's opinion, he looked good all the time. He followed Daisuke out of the trees and stopped.

Ahead was a large spreading valley and sunny open pasture land. It was beautiful after the perpetual dark and gloom of the forest. Daisuke wanted to stretch toward the sun.

Then he frowned. There was something unusual parked by the crossroads.

"I don't believe it," Osamu said.

"It's Iori's wagon!" Ken exclaimed. His face breaking out into the first real smile in days. Daisuke was surprised at how much more beautiful Ken could look with that heart stopping smile.

Ken and Osamu broke into a run, Osamu leaving Prince behind on his little cart for the first time in days. Daisuke glanced at Yamato, very tempted to leave him behind as well, but knowing that Ken would never forgive him for it if he did.

The man was much too tenderhearted for his own good.

Daisuke reluctantly grabbed the heavy rope and gave Yamato a tug. The dog was too damn heavy. Daisuke had to struggle to keep up with Osamu and Ken.

"What if he won't give the mirror back to us?" Ken was asking nervously.

"Then we club him to death," Osamu said. "This is not a matter of debate. We're going home. And that's final."

Daisuke slowed a little. The time of reckoning was finally here. He had known in his mind that Ken would leave him, but in his heart, he had been hoping that his love would stay. That he could win him over before they found the mirror. Now he would have to show Osamu and Ken how to turn on the mirror, and they'd leave him.

Daisuke wasn't sure he could live without Ken. And he'd only known him for a few days.

Osamu and Ken had already gotten to the wagon. It was smaller up close. The dwarf was sitting in it, brewing himself a cup of tea.

"Hey, Iori," Osamu greeted him. "Remember me?"

"Osamu!" The dwarf leaned towards them, looking the company over reflectively, his gaze dwelling on Osamu. "You got out of prison." He frowned thoughtfully. "How…unlikely."

And, apparently, he had known Osamu well. Daisuke caught up to them and stood beside the wagon. He stared continuously at Ken, trying to memorize everything about him.

"Where's our mirror?" Osamu asked.

"Mirror?" Iori said, clearly puzzled.

"It belongs to us," Ken said.

"Is it valuable then?" Iori asked curiously.

"No, its completely worthless." Ken was such a terrible liar. Daisuke smiled fondly. He'd even miss that about him.

"You've come an awfully long way," Iori commented, "for a worthless mirror."

Ken frowned. Daisuke recognized that look too. It was his "decision" look. He knew every detail about Ken. He had never known anyone else so well before. Not even his own family.

"It's a magic mirror," Ken told him quickly. "We traveled here through it. We've been trapped in this world ever since."

"Ken," Osamu protested warningly.

"All we want to do is go home," Ken said. "We wouldn't take it. We'll just use it to go home and then you can do whatever you want with it."

The way Ken said "home" made it sound as if his heart was there. If he left, Daisuke's would be too.

"I'm extremely moved by what you say," Iori said.

"Then please let us go home," Ken begged.

"But I don't have it anymore."

Daisuke let out a small breath that he hadn't realized he'd been holding. He didn't want to look too pleased about this. But Ken didn't even notice him. Instead, he ran around to the back of the miniature wagon. He looked panicked. Osamu looked defeated.

"I'm afraid I swapped it with someone in the village down the road there, not half an hour ago," Iori said, sounding apologetic.

"Swapped it?" Osamu demanded. "Swapped it for what?!"

Iori looked behind him. Ken had already found the trade. A small lamb stood in the back of the wagon. It had a bright pink bow tied around its neck. It opened its mouth and bleated.

Daisuke felt a shudder run through him. He clenched his fists at his sides. Sheep and lambs were the greatest temptation of all. He stepped away from the wagon to clear his head.

"Daisuke, my wolf, do you think you can simply ignore me?" It was the Queen's voice.

Daisuke looked down at a puddle on the ground and saw her face reflected in the water. "I've changed," he said. "I'm no longer under your influence. You can't touch me now."

"Oh really?" the Queen asked, then laughed.

Daisuke didn't like the sound of that laugh at all. In its cold depths it held his future and the future of everyone he loved. That scared him.

"It's a full moon tonight," the Queen informed him softly. "Your blood is already hot. You are a wolf. What will you do when a wild moon calls to you? What will you do to your new friends?"

Daisuke threw a rock at the puddle and watched the Queen's image swirl and vanish with the ripples. He hurried forward and waited for Osamu and Ken.

What would he do? For the first time since he had met Ken, Daisuke wished that they'd found the mirror and that the brothers were on their way home. He didn't want to betray them. He didn't want to hurt anyone, least of all Ken.

And he wasn't sure that he could stop himself.

* * *

Daisuke felt himself walking slower and slower.

The forest had given way to bright and gentle pasture lands. A way up the hill, someone had built a log fence that rose waist-high. White cottages with thatched roofs dotted the countryside. A little white sign up ahead of them said, LITTLE LAMB VILLAGE 3 MILES

"That's it," Osamu commented unnecessarily. "That's the place."

"I don't think we should go into this village," Daisuke said nervously. He didn't know how to properly convey his worry to them. Something just felt very wrong.

Ken didn't even turn around. "But Iori said the mirror is in there."

Daisuke bounded in front of him, hoping he'd understand. "Well, a wolf goes by his instincts, and I don't like it."

Ken looked over his shoulder. Daisuke followed his gaze. There was a scarecrow in one of the fields, only it had a ram's skull on top, and fur carcasses below. Similar scarecrows -- or scarewolves to be more accurate -- dotted the landscape.

Several farmers stopped in their work, pitchforks gripped tightly in their hands, watching as the trio and solid little Prince Yamato passed.

If Ken didn't understand those looks, he didn't understand anything at all. "This is farming land," Daisuke said. "And farmers don't like wolfies, no siree. Let's stop for breakfast and think about what to do."

"You just had breakfast, Daisuke." Ken walked past him. He sounded amused.

Daisuke had had enough. "Well maybe I want another breakfast. What are you, my mother? Do you tell me when I can eat or not? Why don't you just draw up a nice long list of the things I can and can't do!"

Oops. He hadn't meant to say that at all. The full moon was already wearing on his nerves. He cursed it. He could feel the edge.

Osamu stopped walking and narrowed his eyes at him. "Hey, I know what you can't do. You can't talk to my brother like that."

Ken gripped his brother's arm and shook his head. Then he turned his attention back to Daisuke. "We're going into the village," Ken told him. "End of discussion. You can do what you like."

Osamu and Ken continued on. Daisuke glanced around him. Farmers, scarewolves, sheep. He closed his eyes and then sighed. Nowhere around here would really be safe for him. He might as well stick with Ken and Osamu.

Daisuke walked after them, feeling dejected. The sound of wheels on Yamato's cart pulled him forward. Ken would hate him now. He'd think he was crazy. And what would he do when night fell?

Daisuke shuddered. He needed Ken. He needed him on his side now.

He had to tell him what was going on.

He picked a small bouquet of wildflowers and bounded to catch up with him. When Daisuke reached Ken, he thrust them under his nose. Ken blinked at him in surprise.

"Ken, please forgive me," Daisuke begged. "I didn't mean to seem so rude. Its just my cycle coming on. Once a month I get very irrational and angry, and I want to pick a fight with anyone who comes near me."

Ken nodded.

This was where he asked for his help. He sure hoped Ken understood. "I'll be perfectly fine just as long as you keep me away from temptation."

They crested a hill and Daisuke groaned. Dammit. On the other side were meadows filled with flocks of sheep. Pretty, lovely, curly, sheet all with pretty pink bows. 

"Ohhhhh," Daisuke said with a very soft moan.

Shepherdesses carried their crooks as they skipped after their flocks. It felt as if they were moving in slow motion. Delectable, delicious, delightful.

Oh, he wasn't going to survive this.

"Look at all those sheep," he mumbled. "Trollops. It shouldn't be allowed."

Ken was watching him quizzically.

One of the shepherdesses saw him look at them. She giggled at him. Her blouse was straining at her chest, and she had the most lovely honey colored eyes, the most beautiful skin. And her soft chestnut brown hair… 

She came toward them with a smile on her stunning face. "Mornin'," she greeted them, looking at Daisuke. "My name's Hikari Peep. I'm a shepherdess." 

"No question about it," Daisuke agreed in a daze.

The other shepherdesses apparently saw her, and followed. They climbed over a nearby gate so that they could see him.

"My, what very strong arms you've got," Hikari Peep said. "If my door wasn't locked, I'd be scared you'd come into my house and huff and puff and blow all my clothes off." The other shepherdesses giggled when she said this.

"Where do you live, Hikari?" Daisuke asked.

"All right, that's it. Come on, we're going." Ken grabbed his arm and pulled Daisuke away. Apparently his amusement had left him. Ken shot the Hikari girl a glare as they left, and she blinked back at him innocently.

Daisuke looked at the shepherdess behind him and longed for the missed opportunity. But part of him -- the sane part -- was glad that Ken had pulled him away.

They went around a corner and found themselves inside Little Lamb Village. It was made up of white cottages and looked entirely too wholesome. The Peeps seemed to own everything. Daisuke saw signs that listed Bill Peep as a butcher, Gordon Peep as a grocer, and Felicity Peep as a florist before he stopped reading signs.

People were leading sheep around on leashes as if they were dogs. Daisuke bit his lower lip, trying to restrain himself. Letting sheep loose in a village like that should have been a crime. Couldn't they see the temptation it caused? It just wasn't healthy.

Ken kept a firm grip on his arm, not that Daisuke minded too terribly much. Ken was smiling at people, returning their cheery little greetings. Such friendliness wasn't healthy either. Such niceness should be outlawed.

All these sheep were obscene.

Daisuke made himself focus on a banner overhead that announced the Annual Little Lamb Village Competition.

For what? He wondered. Tastiest sheep?

Ken managed to drag him to the center of the village. There were tables set up, but Daisuke didn't know why. Instead, he focused on the small well. Someone had built a roof over it, and there was a bar for holding a rope to help lower buckets.

Beside the well was the only strange-looking person in the entire village. He had straw like blond hair hidden underneath a ridiculous looking hat, and from the glazed look in his sky blue eyes he didn't appear to be all there. 

"Is there someone in charge around here?" Osamu asked. He pulled Yamato up close behind him.

"I am the village idiot, and I am in charge of the wishing well," the man told them.

Osamu rolled his eyes. "What, are we carrying magnets or something? How do we attract these people?"

If Daisuke had been feeling better, he might actually have tried to answer that.

"Nice dog you got there," the village idiot said, petting the golden Prince Yamato on the head. "He reminds me of someone."

At that moment, several villagers went by. They were wheeling a cart with a white cloak in it that had to be twenty feet long. It was made of pure lambs wool. Daisuke could smell it. He felt an urge to start salivating, but managed to ignore it.

"What's that for?" Osamu asked curiously.

"The village's gift for Prince Yamato," the village idiot answered. "Its to be his coronation cloak, made out of the finest lambs wool."

Osamu looked down at the golden dog. "Well, gee, I hope he likes it."

"Aren't you going to make a wish?" the idiot asked. "It's very bad luck to pass without making a wish."

Ken shrugged and pulled out several coins, handing them to Daisuke and Osamu. They all walked up to the well and tossed their coins in at the same time. After a moment, they heard them land, making a small dull clump and tinkling sound. They looked at the idiot in confusion. 

"It don't work," he said.

All three of them groaned.

"It used to be a real magic wishing well, and folks traveled from all over the kingdoms to have things blessed in it. But it's all dried up now. It hasn't flowed in years. I have made it my life's work --"

"As fascinating as your story is," Osamu interrupted, rolling his eyes, "what we're really interested in is a mirror."

Daisuke was glad that Osamu had interrupted because Daisuke was about to make the village idiot the former village idiot. On good days, Daisuke didn't suffer fools gladly. And this was not a good day.

"The mirror," Osamu was saying, "is about so big and black. We were told someone in this village bought it off Iori when he passed through."

The village idiot nodded like he was thinking about it. "I have made it my life's work to wait by this well until it fills up again. What do you think of that?" he grinned stupidly. It seemed as if he hadn't heard Osamu at all.

Daisuke clenched his fists and Osamu turned to face him. "This isn't doing us any good," he sighed. "This man is a complete idiot."

The village idiot straightened. "If only," he told them. "Now my father, he was a complete idiot. I'm still a half-wit."

Daisuke groaned.

* * *

They'd searched all afternoon and found no one who'd seen the mirror. Ken was feeling tired and very discouraged. His brother was reduced to talking to the golden Yamato. And Daisuke -- well, Daisuke was acting strange.

Ken had taken it upon himself to find a place to sleep that night. No one in the village seemed to have any rooms. The annual competition, whatever it was, seemed to have filled up the village. Finally, he met Fidelity, one of the farm wives, and Fidelity claimed to have somewhere for them.

Fidelity lead them to a small barn. Daisuke's eyes seemed to glow. Ken wasn't sure he liked that. Fidelity didn't seem to notice. 

"You can stay here if you like," Fidelity said. "Might not be what your used to, but just about everywhere else is full up at this time of year."

"It smells," Osamu commented.

Ken shot him a glare. Osamu was never satisfied. They'd stayed in worse places on this trip.

"It's wonderful," Ken said to the woman. "Thank you."

Fidelity nodded. She was an amazingly cheerful person. She was about to leave when Ken said, "Do you happen to know if anyone's bought a mirror from a traveling trader recently?"

"You'll want to talk to the local judge. He bought a load of things off that dwarf to use as prizes in the competition. You'll find him across the road at the inn. They do lovely food there, too. Well, isn't that the understatement of the year." Fidelity smiled. In fact, she'd been smiling all along. She waved happily at them and closed the barn door.

Ken and Osamu left Daisuke in the barn. The wolf had curled up and demanded that they go away and just leave him alone. Ken was actually worried about him. He kept shooting troubled glances over his shoulder at the barn until it was out of sight once they were inside the Baa-Bar, where Fidelity had suggested they search out the judge. Daisuke was running a terrible temperature, but he wouldn't let Ken get near him, or do anything at all to help him.

The inside of the bar was packed full of people. Chaos abounded. Ken turned toward Osamu and, for the first time, realized that through all the commotion, he'd dragged Prince Yamato with him. 

"Are you going everywhere with Prince?" Ken asked.

His brother looked slightly embarrassed. "He's gold. I can' just leave him lying around. Anyway, its good to keep him moving."

Ken raised an eyebrow at him and shook his head in disbelief, but he wasn't going to say anything. 

Osamu stopped in front of a sign. "Look," he motioned Ken over. "Here's tomorrow's events."

Ken peered at the information written in chalk on a large blackboard. One listing caught his eye.

11:00 A.M. BEAUTIFUL SHEEP AND SHEPHERDESS COMPETITION.

PRIZE: FULL-LENGTH MIRROR.

He looked up at Osamu. "Our mirror?" he asked. "Let's find the judge quickly so that we can get it back before the competition."

Osamu nodded in agreement.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Dragon Lady: _Hehe. I'm evil. _**^_^**

Ken: ***rolls eyes***

Dragon Lady: _Who loved seeing Hikari as Sally Peep?_ ***raises hand*** _I know I did. _***chuckles evilly* ^^;;;;**

Ken: **^^;;;;**

Dragon Lady: _Looks like Ken's got some competition for Daisuke now. _**^_~**

Ken: _That was cruel. _**=P**

Dragon Lady: _And some of the characters in this I'm thinking of in Digimon style and some I'm not. If anyone caught the implications about the Gypsy Queen being Miyako and the village idiot being Takeru, then good for you. _**^^;;;;**

Ken: ***laughs* **_Dl's brother just about killed her when she told him that she cast Takeru as the village idiot. _

****

Dragon Lady: **^^;;;;** _Takeru's his favorite male character. Of course he's a cannon couple fan. _***rolls eyes* **_He likes Takari. How sad. No imagination what-so-ever. _

****

Ken: _Anyway, the next chapter will be up ASAP. _

****

Dragon Lady: _Yep. _**^_^**

Ken: _So…review!! _**^_^**


	12. Do I Look Like A SHEPHERDESS?!!

****

Dragon Lady: ***gasps* **_Finally! It seems like its taken me forever to get this next chapter out._

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Ken: **** _It has._

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Dragon Lady: **^^;;;;** _Gomen! I didn't mean to wait on it so long. I've just been really lethargic lately. _

****

Ken: _No kidding. _

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Dragon Lady: **^^;;;** _Sorry! _

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Ken: _Whatever. Just as long as its up now and you're working on this story again._

****

Dragon Lady: _Okay….well…I suppose I should make my little rant here short so that you all can get on to the story you've been forced to wait on…But what fun would that be? _**^_~**

Ken: **o.O**

Dragon Lady: **^^;** _Just kidding! I'll let you go. Most of you are probably skipping this anyway, so whatever. _

****

Ken: _Dragon Lady doesn't own Digimon or The 10th Kingdom._

****

Dragon Lady: _And I got to see my first few episodes of Gundam Wing on Friday! Isn't that just so exciting?_ **^_^ *laughs* **_Just thought I'd share that fascinating fact that I know you would all just die without knowing. _**^^;**

Ken: _Riiiiiiiight._

****

Dragon Lady: _Go. Enjoy. Read. Review?????_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The 10th Kingdom

Adapted By: DigimonDragonLady

Ken looked around the bar. He'd never seen so many middle-aged farmers who all had the same look. Their wives were not just pleasingly plump like some of the younger women of the village, but verging on fat. And there were certainly enough shepherdesses and milkmaids to go about.

They were informed by the bartender, Barbara Peep, that the Judge would be in for his dinner at exactly eight o'clock. So Ken and Osamu settled down to their own dinner. Ken noticed a man at a nearby table reading a newspaper; it was the first paper Ken had seen since coming through the mirror, called _The Fourth Kingdom Gazette_.

The man looked up, apparently sensing Ken's interest. "They're saying the Trolls have claimed the whole of the southwest region," he commented to them.

Oh, dear, Ken thought. He wondered how much of that was connected to them.

"I wouldn't know about that," Ken said politely.

"We're not very political," Osamu agreed.

The couple at the next table didn't seem to notice the brush-off. "I heard the Queen escaped," the farmer's wife said, "and she's behind it all, and they're talking about an all out war between the Nine Kingdoms."

"Where's Yamato, I say?" the farmer shouted. "If he's not careful he's going to loose his kingdom!"

Ken tried not to look at the golden dog, but his brother put his hand on Prince Yamato's head sympathetically. He had that guilty look again.

* * *

Damn. That had just gone all wrong. Ken growled under his breath. Things looked impossible now. They were never going home. They were never going to be able to leave. That judge wouldn't give them the mirror back. He wouldn't even let them buy it from him.

Ken groaned. Why did things like this only happen to him?

He looked around for Daisuke, in case he had any ideas that might help them. The wolf wasn't looking at all well, but he had left the barn anyway and joined them in the bar. He'd eaten much more than Ken and Osamu had in just minutes of being in there. He'd gone through racks of lamb like a sheering machine, and the bones littered his plate.

Of course, Ken really couldn't blame him. The Peeps grew the best foods and raised the best lamb out of the entire village, and were very proud of it. It was very good food. And just plain too. Ken could see why all the older women were so heavy and everyone had such a healthy glow.

But on looking for Daisuke he found that he was no longer sitting where Ken had last seen him. Ken cast about anxiously -- he'd been so sick -- and finally he saw him watching a pair of yodeling milkmaids.

He rolled his eyes, shaking his head, and started toward him, intent on hauling him back to the barn to rest.

Hikari Peep, the buxom shepherdess who had approached Daisuke that morning brushed against him. Ken stopped walking, his eyes narrowing slightly as he watched the scene. He clenched a fist. H didn't like how he felt when other people got too close to Daisuke.

But he also didn't like this Peep girl. She was too forward, and she was too interested in Daisuke.

"You're new here, aren't you?" Hikari said as she touched Daisuke's arm. She handed him a jar of candy. "I can't get this lid undone. Could you help me, Mr…"

Daisuke swallowed, apparently unable to answer. His gaze met Ken's for just a moment. He wasn't going to help him out of this one.

Another buxom Peep girl sidled up to the pair. Didn't they ever get strange men in this town? They were all acting like Daisuke was fresh meat. Ken's frown deepened.

"What is your name?" the second girl asked.

"Uh, Daisuke," the wolf-man stammered, then cleared his throat. "Daisuke Motomiya."

Ken crossed his arms and leaned against a nearby table, watching and trying to swallow the anger that was building inside of him. These girls -- women actually -- were pressing every possible body part against Daisuke.

"It's my eighteenth birthday today," Hikari said. "Bet you don't know what's going to happen to me tonight?"

Ken's eyes widened at what the shepherdess was implying. If he'd talked like that at eighteen, his brother would have put him in a cage and thrown away the key. 

Hikari paused and ran a hand along Daisuke's back. Ken nearly went over to her and threw her aside. What was wrong with her anyway? He'd never acted like that over some guy.

Daisuke moved out of her reach. He seemed almost embarrassed. "I should get going now," he stumbled a little in his haste to back away. 

Suddenly, two big-chested young men grabbed Daisuke by the arms and slammed him against a wall. Ken put a hand over his mouth, but it was only to cover a smile. Daisuke deserved a bit of shoving around after that obvious bit of flirting.

"No outsiders mess with Peep girls, you understand?" one of the big guys said.

"What are you doing around here, anyway, Mr. Motomiya?" the second asked with narrowed eyes.

"Why don't we take him out back and ask him properly," the first suggested.

Ken felt the smile leave his face. They were going to do some serious damage if he didn't step in now. The men had Daisuke by the arms and were going to drag him outside. For all the flirting he'd done, he didn't deserve to be beaten to a bloody pulp.

Unless it was by Ken.

Ken walked up to them, and put a hand on Daisuke's shoulder. "Excuse me, but what do you think you're doing with my husband?" he asked.

"Your husband?" The big guy sounded surprised.

"That's right," Ken answered. "He's not feeling at all well tonight. That's why we need to be going now. Good night."

He took Daisuke's arm and led him to the door. Ken's grip was harder than he'd planned. He wanted to bruise him, he really did. 

"Oh, Ken," Daisuke said. "When you said I was your husband --"

"I only said it to get you out of trouble," Ken snapped, interrupting him quickly. "So don't go getting any ideas."

He glanced around for Osamu and saw his brother playing darts with several of the older men of the village. Well, he couldn't get in too much trouble doing that.

He shoved Daisuke through the front door and followed him into the cool night. 

The moon was full and beautiful, a solid oval against the darkness of the sky. It filled the streets with almost as much light as day and cast eerie silver shadows between the buildings.

Daisuke shook himself free of Ken's grasp, and he tried to catch him again. Whatever this sickness was, it was making him act very strangely.

"I feel so alive!" Daisuke exclaimed and raised his arms skyward. "I can see everything for miles around. Look at the moon, Ken. Doesn't it just make you want to howl, its so beautiful?"

"Not really, no," Ken answered dryly.

Daisuke grabbed a nearby fence post and leaned against it. Something about his face was different -- harsher, narrower. He looked dangerous, just as he had when they had first met. Ken was intrigued and more than a little bit frightened. 

"My mother was obsessed with the moon," Daisuke said. "She used to drag us all out to watch it when we were cubs. The moon makes me hungry for everything."

Ken felt a shiver of fear go down his spine. Daisuke was staring at the moon the way he had stared at the yodeling milkmaids.

Ken took his arm and firmly pried him away from the fence post. "Time for bed," he said softly, and this time he managed to get Daisuke into the barn.

* * *

Osamu pulled Prince out of the bar, along with the last of the patrons. The ale had been good as the food, maybe better, and had certainly affected his dart playing. Osamu wished the Judge would listen to him, but the man was bent on not discussing work when he was out of court.

Osamu gazed down the empty streets. "You want to go walkies?" Osamu asked Prince Yamato.

The golden dog, of course, didn't move. His face was permanently locked in a look of determination mixed with just a hint of anger.

"Don't you look at me like that," Osamu told him as they started down the street. "You can't blame me. This kind of thing must happen all the time in your world. I mean, you were a dog when I met you."

He got to the wishing well. The village idiot was peering down its sides.

"Ever hopeful?" Osamu asked.

"Oh, yes," the idiot replied. "Your dog reminds me of somebody, you know."

Osamu had no response to that. He simply shook his head and continued walking.

The full moon cast a beautiful silver light over the entire town. The place actually looked magical. The cool air was clearing his head and making him relax. All those adventures had tied both his stomach and his back up in knots. He was relieved to have just a bit of time to himself before he returned to Ken and Daisuke.

Osamu reached the village limits and was just about to turn back when he saw an old wooden sign that read: PEEP FARM. KEEP OUT. 

He peered across the fence. Across the field was a forbidding farmhouse. It wasn't pleasant looking at all, not like the other buildings around. Osamu thought that odd in and of itself, especially considering what wonderful food the Peeps grew.

But what was odder was the procession of Peeps walking from the house to the barn, holding lanterns, but keeping their light carefully shaded from the road.

"Wait here." Osamu patted Prince on the head and climbed over the fence. Then he carefully crept across the field toward the barn. 

It didn't take him long to get there. The barn was poorly built, and there were cracks separating the boards. Osamu peered through one of them.

The barn was lit like the middle of the day. All of the adult Peeps were gathered there, and all of them were holding baskets filled with produce. Only this produce was nothing like the magnificent food he'd seen at the Baa-Bar. This was the kind of stuff he'd seen grown in window-box gardens in Manhattan -- wretched thin carrots, spindly potatoes, dull, worm-eaten tomatoes.

Osamu felt his stomach turn. One of the older Peeps -- Wilfred, Osamu thought, trying to remember the names of all his dart-playing buddies -- peered around at the assembled family. Osamu leaned back slightly, unsure whether they could see him through the crack or not.

"Where's the birthday girl?" Wilfred asked.

Hikari Peep came forward, holding a dirty, scrawny sheep. She seemed nervous.

"Why do you think everything the Peeps make tastes so good, Hikari Shepherdess?" Wilfred asked her.

Hikari blinked, and swallowed. "I don't rightly know," she said. "Used to be there was a magic well in the town, but the well's dried up now. Everyone knows that."

"Do they now?" Wilfred grinned. So did the other older Peeps. They seemed to be sharing a joke of some sort. "Well, now. Since you're eighteen, I'm going to let you in on the family secret."

Osamu leaned forward. His heart was pounding harder than usual. He had a hunch that if they caught him, he'd be in horrible trouble, but he couldn't bear to move. This had to be important.

Wilfred Peep was nodding and several younger male Peeps swept straw from the barn floor. They revealed a wooden hatch at the base of the straw pile.

"The reason there's no more magic water in the village well is 'cause me and my brother diverted the stream forty years ago," Wilfred told Hikari, his grin growing. "The Peeps have all the magic now."

He bent down and lifted the wooden cover as he spoke, revealing a hole in the ground. Lights, like multicolored fireflies, flew toward the ceiling, and the entire barn grew (if possible) even brighter.

Osamu put a hand against the cracked barn wall, intrigued.

"Now, lets have a look at your sheep," Wilfred instructed Hikari. "Ugly looking thing isn't he? Can't see him winning you the Lovely Shepherdess Competition."

The other Peeps laughed as Wilfred grabbed the sheep by the neck. Another male Peep grabbed a rope and lowered a bucket that was suspended on a pulley system.

It took three men to get the sheep into the bucket. They manned the pulley system and lowered the bleating sheep into the darkness of the well. 

An echoey voice came out of the well. "What do you wish of my magic waters?"

Wilfred leaned forward. "Fill this sheep with your goodness and life," he instructed.

Finally, they wound the bucket back up. 

Osamu gasped. Fortunately, so did everyone else. A gorgeous, golden fleeced lamb jumped out of the bucket and into Hikari Peep's arms. 

The girl giggled in delight. "Wilf, it's amazing!"

Wilfred stood over her, and Osamu felt his own smile fade. Wilfred looked absolutely terrifying. Who knew that old guy had it in him?

"Don' you ever breathe a word to no one," he said, "or I'll cut your throat, grandchild or no grandchild."

Okay. That was enough for Osamu. He backed away from the crack in the barn, then ran across the field. He couldn't believe he had left Prince Yamato unattended for so long anyway. He bounded over the fence, patted Prince on the head, and then hurried toward the village.

If Wilfred Peep was willing to kill his own granddaughter to keep the secret, he certainly wouldn't have any qualms about executing Osamu.

All Osamu had to do was make sure he wouldn't get caught.

* * *

Ken was ready to pull out his hair. Daisuke was not acting normally. He was being completely unreasonable, and he didn't know what to do with him. Ken could barely manage to keep him in the barn.

He stood in front of the door.

"Do you have any idea what you do to me?" Daisuke asked. "You could never understand. I am your mate for life."

"Daisuke," Ken said with a sigh, "you don't know what you're saying."

"Oh, you know, do you?" Daisuke asked. "You know everything, don't you Ken? You can answer every question but know nothing. You're pretending to live. You're doing everything but actually living. You're driving me crazy."

"Stop bullying me," Ken commanded. "I don't like it. Now go to bed."

He froze and a sly look Ken had never seen before crossed his face.

"Or what?" he asked. "Will you scream? That's what most people do when they see a wolf. Scream and scream and scream."

For the first time since they had gone through the mirror, Ken was actually afraid of him. There were green lights in his eyes. And something strange about his appearance. Something not human about him.

Ken grabbed the nearest thing he could find -- a pitchfork -- and held it in front of him like a weapon.

Daisuke ripped it from his trembling hands. "What are you going to do? Stick it in me? That's what most people do when there's a wolf about. Stick it, stab it, smoke it out."

He pulled Ken forward, holding him tightly.

"Oh, that's what they did to my parents," he said, his voice was deadly sounding in a soft, morbid whisper. Ken was horrified. "The good people. The nice farmers. They made a great big fire and burned them both."

Ken didn't know what would have happened next if the barn door hadn't banged open and Osamu walked in.

"Hey," his brother said, "you'll never guess what I've just seen."

Daisuke froze and some life grew in his eyes. Ken reached toward him cautiously.

"I know why the Peeps win everything," his brother was saying. But Daisuke thrust Ken backwards, then pushed past Osamu and hurried out of the barn.

Both Ken and his brother stared after Daisuke for a moment.

"Is he feeling better, then?" Osamu asked.

* * *

Daisuke ran until he reached the edge of town. Then he stopped near a fence, breathing hard. He had no idea what he had been about to do to Ken. He just knew it couldn't have been good, from the terrified way in which Ken had been looking at him. He inwardly cursed his stupidity and lack of control.

It took him a moment to gather himself. He looked down. There was a horse trough near the edge of the fence, filled with water. He could see himself in it, himself and the full moon behind.

The evil moon. It made him like this. He didn't even recognize himself anymore. 

Then the moon smiled. "Hello, wolf," it said with the Queen's voice.

His mouth fell open and he gripped the wooden rail hard.

"My mirror will still not show me who you travel with," the Queen said. "So I ask you, who are your companions?"

Finally, he got enough control over himself to answer. "I'm not telling you."

"What is their power?" the Queen asked. "Why should they conceal themselves?"

"I'm not telling you anything about him," Daisuke growled, thinking of what harm might come to Ken if the Queen was interested in him.

"Him?" the Queen asked, smiling slightly. "Is there something special about this him? Special to you? What's he like? Is he tasty?"

"You're evil," Daisuke snarled. "Stay away from me."

"Look at the moon and then tell me what you'd really like to do to him. Let your wildness out. Serve me and let the wolf out."

Let the wolf out. He looked up. The full moon was indeed beautiful, alluring, right. Let the wolf out.

He wanted to close his eyes, but couldn't.

Let the wolf out, she had said. So he did.

* * *

The hay scratched at his face. Ken, wanting to sleep some more, brushed it away. He heard footsteps and an odd bleating noise, but he didn't want to think about that at the moment. Just sleep.

Then there was a musty smell and his brother's voice, somewhere near him.

"Well," Osamu asked, "what do you think?"

Ken opened his eyes slowly. There was a sheep's face inches from his. He yelped and pushed it away.

"Hey, hey," Osamu said, "don't scare it, it took me nearly all night to catch it."

Ken sat up and wiped the sleep from his eyes. "Why have you stolen a sheep?" he asked.

"For the competition of course," Osamu answered, as if it were obvious. "The "Beautiful Sheep and Shepherdess Competition"," he rolled his eyes, "how else are we going to get the mirror?"

Ken blinked, his brain still somewhat fuzzy. "What -- wait a minute. How are we going to get the mirror back? The Shepherdess Competition? Wouldn't that involve a shepherdess?"

Osamu shot a sly sideways glance at him. Ken's eyes widened.

He looked at the sheep and back to Osamu. "Me?" he choked. "Oh, no. NO! Do I look like a shepherd_ess_ to you?!"

Osamu shrugged. "Look, I'm sure the people that live here do stranger things than crossdress. And you're girlish looking enough to win this competition with a little help."

"Osamu!" Ken groaned. "No!"

"I'm not a shepherdess! I'm a waiter. I don't know anything about sheep!"

"You don't have to," Osamu answered. "That's the beauty of my plan."

Ken examined his brother's catch critically. "Osamu, this sheep stinks," he said. "Its not going to win anything. It looks like it's about to drop dead."

"It won't when its been down the magic wishing well," his brother said. "Now go make your costume while I go and get it dipped."

"Costume?"

His brother pointed to a bunch of material draped over a drying line in the barn. "Who would ever guess it was once curtains? I have faith in your sewing abilities, Ken. Now hurry up and get changed. We only have a few hours at best."

Ken got up, brushed the remaining hay off of himself, and peered at the material. It wasn't at all attractive. And he thought that the blue color of it would probably end up clashing horribly with his hair color. _He_ would have been able to guess it had once been curtains.

He walked over to it and pulled it back -- and leapt backwards in surprise. Daisuke stood there, his eyes glazed with dark circles around them. He had startled Ken.

"Good morning," Daisuke slurred the words together. He really did look terrible. 

"H-How are you feeling?" Ken asked in concern. He had been worried about Daisuke all night.

He looked at Ken strangely. Not quite as crazily as the night before, though. But he had cuts and scratches on his hands, and his hair was tangled.

"Not too good," he admitted. "Everything's kinda hazy at the moment."

He stumbled a little, and Ken helped to support him, though he was still somewhat nervous of being overly close to Daisuke because of the previous night.

"I must fight what I am," Daisuke said desperately. "I can't remember what I've done. You'd better tie me up. That way I can't escape."

"What do you mean, tie you up?" Ken asked in confusion.

"Tie me up!" Daisuke shouted at him, making Ken jump back in fear. Daisuke looked guilty at his reaction. "Stop me from escaping. Tie me up now, while you still can," he said more gently.

"All right," Ken nodded. He didn't need to be told twice. It sounded like the best solution for all of them. That way he wouldn't have to worry about what trouble Daisuke was getting into while he was at the competition. He gritted his teeth just thinking about having to wear some dumb curtains up in front of a crowd of people. How humiliating.

He got a rope from the floor of the barn and made Daisuke lean against a thick wooden post next to a water trough. Then Ken tied his hands behind his back.

"Tighter," Daisuke instructed. "If I struggle, I can easily get free."

Ken pulled the ropes tighter, as much as it hurt him to hurt Daisuke.

"Tighter," Daisuke ordered.

Ken pulled again.

Then Daisuke smiled at him. "What's the worst thing you've ever done?"

His tone was colder than usual. Ken swallowed nervously and made another knot in the ropes. 

"Tighter or I'll eat you up," Daisuke murmured softly.

Ken shivered at the words. He found himself needing reassurance that everything would be all right in the end, and buried his face in Daisuke's shoulder. The wolf nuzzled him gently. 

"I'm sorry, Ken," he whispered. "Good luck with this shepherdess thing; I wish I could see you. You'll look beautiful."

Ken gave a muffled laugh and pulled back slightly so that he could see Daisuke's face. "No I won't. Osamu's out of his mind if he actually thinks that doing this might get us a chance at that mirror. It'll be horrible. I just know I'll make a mess out of everything."

"Have a little faith," Daisuke insisted. He leaned forward and kissed away a tear that had rolled down Ken's cheek. "Maybe this will be a Happily Ever After, after all."

Ken nodded. "I hope so. I really want to go home," he whispered.

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Dragon Lady: _And yet again I have gone another chapter without being able to write the Sheep and Shepherdess Competition. _

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Ken: ***rolls eyes***

Dragon Lady: _I meant to write more on this chapter, but I simply couldn't write any more on it, and just had to end it with the cute fluffy bit._ **^^;;;**

Ken: ***sighs* **_You all know dl and her fluff._

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Dragon Lady: **^^;;;;**

Ken: _But at least it was one chapter that just delayed my inevitable embarrassment._ -_-;;

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Dragon Lady: _Awww…you'll look cute in the dress, Ken-chan. _**^^**

Ken: _Not if it clashes with my hair color I won't. _

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Dragon Lady: _…Uh huh…_**^^;;;;**

Ken: **^^;;;;**

Dragon Lady: _And my little ending scene was definitely more fluffy than either the movie or the book made it. _**^^;;;** _I just love the sappy stuff._ **^_~ **_But it does look like Ken's beginning to come out of his shell a little, doesn't it? _**^_^**

Ken: ***shakes head with a small sigh at dl's hopeless romantic ness***

Dragon Lady: _Anyway, I'll do more soon. The next chapter is definitely about the contest. Yes. No more delaying. _**^_^ **_So now that you know the coming attraction, review and tell me just how much you all want to see this. _**^_~**

Ken: ***rolls eyes* **_Review please. _


	13. The Beautiful Sheep and Shepherdess Comp...

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Dragon Lady:** O.O **_Look what I'm updating!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!_

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Ken: _No way! _***blinks in disbelief*** _Am I actually seeing what I think I'm seeing?!_

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Dragon Lady: _Yes! It's another chapter of my 10th Kingdom fic!!!!_

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Ken:** *is speechless* **

Dragon Lady: _I soooo apologize for not having updated this!!! Or any of my Digimon stories that are in progress. My friends managed to get me completely hooked on Gundam Wing, and lately all fics that I've been working on were dealing with the g-boys, and not my favorite digi characters. Gomen!!_

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Ken: _Really, it's about time you updated something for Digimon. _

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Dragon Lady: _Well, I said I'm sorry. _**^^;;;;;**

Ken:** *rolls eyes* **_Yeah, you're sorry, all right. It's been, what? Three, four months?_

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Dragon Lady:** *blushes bright red* **_But…well…oh, blame it on the chapter number, I mean, unlucky thirteen and all that…_

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Ken: _DL, don't give me that. I know you. You are so NOT superstitious._

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Dragon Lady: **^^;;;;;;;** _It was worth a try?_

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Ken: _Anyway! Read! And review! Tell her not to pull something like this again!_

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The 10th Kingdom

Adapted for Digimon by: DigimonDragonLady

Osamu had to stay to the back roads as he dragged the sheep back to the Peeps' farm. The Peeps were already at the competition -- he'd seen them go by with their magically perfect vegetables and Hikari Peep's unbelievably golden sheep.

But they hadn't seen him, and that was what counted.

He reached the barn in what he believed to be record time. The door was latched, but he picked up a spade lying nearby and bashed the door in. The sheep was rolling its eyes and bleating in fright.

He pushed it inside, then followed. The straw was back over the trap doors he knew where built into the barn floor, but he brushed it aside, and grasping the enormous iron ring, somehow managed to open the hatch doors.

The fireflies floated out of the well. Up close, they looked like tiny stars.

"And now it's time for the Well of Fortune," Osamu muttered to himself jokingly as he shoved the terrified sheep into the bucket.

Then he proceeded to lower the sheep into the dark well, and smiled as he heard the splash.

* * *

Ken had no idea where his brother was, but he was ready to kill him for leaving him to face this alone. He felt incredibly awkward in the full shepherdess gear, from the white gown with its smocked bodice, to the white bonnet and shepherd's crook. There was a large crowd around the competition area, and Ken was not feeling comfortable about facing them, but only two other entrants: Hikari Peep, who was holding a golden lamb, and another young village girl who Ken didn't know, who was holding an ordinary looking sheep.

The crowd was conversing, the sound carrying over the entire village. Some were admiring the Peep vegetables. Other were staring at Ken and whispering pointedly. His brother would pay for this -- if only he'd show up.

The Judge got onto the podium and banged the gavel, silencing the crowd. "Due to the appalling chicken massacre this morning, we are bringing forward the Beautiful Shepherdess competition now."

Chicken massacre? Ken tried not to look alarmed as he remembered seeing the scratches all over Daisuke's hands as he had tied him up early that morning. He glanced over the crowd again as he began to panic again. His brother wasn't here, and the competition had been moved up. Now what was he going to do?

"We now have three contestants," the Judge was telling the crowd, and Ken wanted nothing more than for the earth to open and swallow him up as almost every eye turned to survey him. "Well, more the merrier I say."

The man seemed a lot cheerier than the one he had met the night before.

Then he peered at Ken intently. "Now, wait a minute, where's your sheep?"

"Oh," Ken swallowed nervously, "It-it's on the way."

"He hasn't got one," Hikari Peep muttered in a sing-songy voice.

"Yes, I have," Ken narrowed his eyes as he glared at Hikari briefly. "He's just…in the barn."

"Well, go and fetch him," the Judge instructed gruffly. "And smartish, too, or I'll have to disqualify you. This is a sheep and shepherdess competition, after all."

"Then why aren't you disqualifying me for not being a shepherdess," Ken grumbled under his breath as he hurried back toward the barn. He silently cursed his brother as he went. He didn't know how he was going to get out of this one. As he hurried away, he heard the Judge continue.

"Now," he was saying, "to start the competition, I'll ask all entrants, as is the age old custom, to sing their favorite sheep song. Young Mary Ramely, will you start off?"

A wobbly female voice started into a soft rendition of "Mary Had a Little Lamb". Ken winced. When he got to the barn, he discovered Osamu had just gotten there as well. He was holding a pink-rinsed lamb.

"What the hell is that?" Ken asked.

"It's a mirror winning sheep, that's what it is," Osamu answered confidently.

Ken hoped he was right. He snatched the lamb from his brother, and then realized that he had a new problem.

"Osamu, what sheep songs are there?"

"Mary Had A Little Lamb?"

"No, she's already doing that," Ken replied in agitation. He had to hurry.

"Um…Little Bo-Peep?"

Ken glared at him. "I am not singing any songs about Peeps."

"Hm. Good point." Osamu racked his brains, thinking of every childhood song he had ever heard. "Oh, of course. Baa-Baa-Black Sheep!"

"Oh, God, I don't want to get up on stage and sing baby songs." Ken groaned, closing his eyes at the mere thought of what he would have to do. "Some power up there hates me, I swear. I can't do this. I'm not going to win."

"Ken, listen to me."

Ken opened his eyes and looked at his brother. Osamu was full of fire and a strong determination to succeed that Ken remembered having seen once when they had finally moved out of Mimi's home and gotten started on their own. The same determination that made Osamu stick with his janitor job, and Ken with his waiter position at Grill on the Green.

"If you ever want to go home, ever want to see New York again," he said, "do whatever it takes to win this competition."

Ken nodded. He paused and made some adjustments to his costume. He tightly clutched the lamb as he hurried back to the competition. He made it just as Hikari Peep was finishing her song.

As Ken climbed the stage, he watched in disbelief as Hikari turned an innocent sheep song into a siren song. The shepherdess was pouting and bending and finger-wagging seductively. When Hikari finished, she waved at the crowd, ,then turned her back on them. Her smile faded when she saw Ken.

"And now, contestant number three," the Judge called encouragingly, and Ken swallowed down a lump of nervousness.

As he stepped onto the stage, several members of the audience started snickering and cat-calling. He wanted to die, right there. But with a look at the mirror, leaning beside the trophy table, he clenched his fist and cleared his throat. 

He was positively sure that he had somehow managed to horribly mangle even such a simple childish song as Baa-Baa-Black Sheep, when the audience began to clap. He sighed in relief, flushing slightly, and grabbing the edges of his very short skirt, made an awkward curtsy.

That was when he noticed the Peep family, staring at him as if he'd just murdered a sheep.

* * *

Daisuke had fallen into the straw near the post, not willing to move. He was sweating. He had to control himself. Had to. Had to. The blackout the night before terrified him. The way he had yelled at Ken terrified him even more.

He was dying of thirst and hunger and --

There was a trough nearby. Something to drink would help.

He rolled onto his knees and bent over the trough. The water shimmered, and suddenly the Queen's image appeared.

"Wolf," she said. "You're making me angry. Obey me, Daisuke."

This day couldn't get any worse. He stared at her shimmery face in absolute horror and revulsion. "No!"

"Time is running out," the Queen said, ignoring his previous answer. "Kill the boy and bring me the dog. Do it."

It took all of his effort to fall away from the trough. He lay for a moment; then he felt the change coming over him. He struggled, struggled, struggled as hard as he could, but he couldn't stop it from happening.

His body shifted and altered, his head growing into its wolf shape. And even though his mind was against it, his teeth were already snapping at his bonds. Before he could even think about what he was doing, he was running from the barn, blessedly free. 

A real wolf at last.

* * *

The Judge was kneeling and inspecting the sheep. Ken was standing uncomfortably beside Hikari Peep, who kept shooting him hate-filled glances, with his arms crossed tightly over his chest, mainly to hide the fact that the dress was rather low cut and was meant to show off and display the breasts he didn't have.

The rest of the Peep family were pointing at Ken's lamb and muttering angrily among themselves.

Finally the Judge stood, and a hush grew over the crowd, and contestants.

"Three beautiful gir --er-- contestants," he coughed slightly, "and three beautiful lambs. This is the hardest competition to judge so far by a long chalk." He glanced at the contestants. "But I have to give Mary Ramely and her sheep eight out of ten and a well-earned third place."

There was polite applause, and Mary looked like she was going to cry. Osamu had to take his gaze off of her, the poor thing. She had no idea the entire competition was rigged.

The Judge put a hand first on Hikari's gold lamb, then on Ken's pink one. "Both of these lambs are so beautiful," he said. "How do I make a decision? I have to give Hikari Peep ten out of ten."

Ken's heart sank, and Osamu cursed. Ten out of ten. That meant Ken had only come in second. They'd have to find another way to get the mirror now. But the Peep family was cheering and making a general racket. The Judge however, waited patiently until the cheering was over, and then said, "But I have to give Ken Ichijouji ten out of ten as well."

"A tie?" Wilfred Peep's voice rang out from the confusion of the crowd. "You can't have a tie! Somebody's got to win."

There was shouting and arguing in the crowd. This looked like it was rapidly turning into a popularity contest, more than anything else. Some people were running, yelling the news to those who hadn't heard. Osamu watched it all in wonder. Apparently no one had taken on the Peep family in years.

"I have to win," Hikari Peep complain, stomping her foot. "Peeps always win!"

"How about if you keep the trophy and I have the mirror?" Ken suggested hopefully.

"They're _both_ mine!" Hikari bounced up and down angrily. "It's not fair!"

"Why are you giving an outsider ten out of ten?" Wilfred demanded of the Judge. "Give the prize to my girl."

"He's not even a _shepherdess_!" Hikari complained loudly.

The entire area errupted into verbal fighting. Osamu stood back, listening as the Peeps hurled insults at the Judge and at Ken. Ken kept glancing at the mirror by the trophy table, as if he were seriously contemplating just running off with it while he had the chance.

The Judge banged his gavel for silence.

Everyone stopped yelling and turned toward him expectantly.

"Now listen," the Judge began angrily. "This is a shepherdess competition, is it not? We'll set up an obstacle course, and whoever guides his or her sheep through the pen in the shortest amount of time will be the winner, using only sheepdogs and commands. Sound fair enough?"

"Yeah, all right," several of the male Peeps grumbled.

"No!" Ken spoke up. "I haven't got a sheepdog."

"'Spect I'll win then, won't I?" Hikari smirked triumphantly.

The Peep family laughed. A little Peep girl kicked Ken in the shin. He grabbed his leg and looked down. The little girl snarled at him and stuck her tongue out. Osamu was appalled at such behavior.

But the villagers didn't seem to notice. Apparently the Peeps' lack of sportsmanship didn't bother anyone but him and Ken. Several of the village men were setting up an obstacle course. Someone asked Osamu to help, but he ducked out of it.

He clenched a fist and started pacing. Just when they'd been so close to having the mirror. He had to do something. But what? This had seemed like such a good idea this morning.

"Damn," he muttered in frustration. "Damn. Where in God's name am I going to find a sheep dog?"

"Excuse me." The village idiot had crept up unnoticed beside him and tugged on his sleeve.

"Not now," Osamu snapped. "I've got to think quickly."

"But you've got a dog," the idiot pointed out.

This guy was not called the village idiot for nothing. "In case you haven't noticed," Osamu began in irritation that he had to be explaining this at such a time, "you see, this dog is --"

Osamu stopped himself. He had a hand on Prince Yamato's golden head. In less than thirty seconds he put it all together.

He grabbed the idiot's hand and shook it. "Of course! You're an absolute genius!" 

The idiot looked dumbfounded, but Osamu didn't care. He grabbed Prince Yamato's rope, and shouted to Ken, who was looking very stressed, "Stall them. I'll be back."

Then he ran down the road. Fortunately, all of the Peeps were still getting ready for the competition. Osamu figured he had maybe fifteen minutes at best. He had no idea how long Hikari Peep's shepherding would take.

It seemed to take him forever to get to the farm, and even longer to get Prince Yamato inside the barn. The wheels on the cart kept getting stuck. Finally, Osamu picked Yamato up and carried him inside.

Yamato was certainly easier to get into the bucket than that blasted sheep had been.

Once Yamato was in the well, Osamu peered over the edge. He couldn't see anything in the darkness, not even the little fireflies of light. What would he do if the Peeps came back and nothing had happened and there was a gold dog in their well?

He didn't want to screw this one up. Not this time.

"Wishing Well," he spoke up, trying not to sound too desperate. "Oh magic wishing well, use your healing -- um, whatever -- water to bring back to life this poor dog trapped in a gold body."

"You've already had a wish." The wishing well's echoey voice sounded horribly disapproving.

"I know, I know," Osamu replied hurriedly. "But this is very important."

"Oh, all right," the well relented. "But you swear this is your last wish today?"

"Yes, yes, I swear."

There was a groaning and bubbling of water. Only a few stars came up, and those were dim. Osamu clenched his hands together hopefully. After a few moments, the sound stopped.

Osamu pulled the rope back up, hauling the weight of the golden dog as best he could, and wishing he had some help. He tried hard not to focus on the millions of ways this could have gone completely wrong.

He finally pulled the bucket into view, and his heart literally sank. Prince Yamato was still a gold statue.

"I don't believe it," Osamu groaned.

Then, as he watched, the statue gave a little tremor and fine gold cracks appeared on its shinny surface. Prince Yamato shook his head like a dog trying to dry itself, and gold flew through the air like water droplets, coming down in a shower of gold dust.

"It worked?" Osamu blinked. "It worked!"

Yamato jumped out of the bucket and landed on the ground. He gave one more shake, and the last of the gold fell off of him. He turned and looked groggily at Osamu.

"Hey, Prince, my boy, welcome back!" Osamu cheered. "What does it feel like to be back in the real world?"

Prince Yamato lunged at Osamu and bit him in the ankle. Hard. And Osamu yelped in pain. Prince backed off, and Osamu hopped on one foot, clutching at his injury.

"Hey, what was that for?" he demanded.

"You moron," Prince Yamato replied in that high aristocratic voice of his. "Why did you turn me into gold?"

"It was a heat-of-the-moment kind of thing," Osamu said semi-apologetically. "I was trying to save you from those Trolls."

"Osamu, you really are the most incompetent manservant I have ever had. You are a complete imbecile."

"First off, I'm not your manservant," Osamu retorted, "and secondly…Prince, I need your help."

"Help you?" Prince Yamato stared at him incredulously. "You must be joking."

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Dragon Lady: _Well, there we go._

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Ken:** ^_^**

Dragon Lady: _And sorry, I know that was an awfully short chapter compared to the rest…_

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Ken: DL, I don't think anyone really cares about that. Just as long as they know you're working on this again! **-_-;;**

Dragon Lady: _Oh, right. _**^^;;; **

Ken: ***sighs***

Dragon Lady_: And I apologize to those of you who have seen the 10th Kingdom movie and wanted to see Ken sing the song the way Virginia did, but there was no way I was going to be able to pull that off, especially as I've loaned one of my friends the movie at the moment, and didn't have it at my disposal._

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Ken: _Well, I'm sure they were thrilled that I was wearing a dress, so whatever, dl._ **-_-;;**

Dragon Lady:** ^^;;**

Ken:** *pushes dl away from ff.net* **

Dragon Lady: _Hey, what do you think you're doing?_

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Ken: _You're going to sit right down and start working on another chapter._

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Dragon Lady: _But! It's almost eleven o'clock at night! I'm tired. I've already had a softball game today, and I've still got school tomorrow! _**@_@**

Ken: _Too bad._

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Dragon Lady:** O.O **_Help!!! Somebody save me from my muse!!_

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Ken: _Review PLEASE! _**^_^ **_And I'm sure they don't care how late I force you to stay up, dl, if they get another chapter out of the deal. Mwuhahahaha._

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Dragon Lady: **O.O**


	14. The Town That Cried Wolf

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Dragon Lady: ***slinks sheepishly into room* **_Um…hello all. _**^^;;**

Ken: _Gods, I can barely believe my eyes. Tell me I'm not seeing things and that you are updating The 10th Kingdom?_

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Dragon Lady:_ …_

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Trowa: _The 10th what? _

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Ken: _Her longest running story to date. The barely halfway done story. The she still has to write about twelve more chapters to get it properly finished story. The her reviewers are about ready to lynch her for not having updated it in somewhere around a length of three month period story._

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Trowa: _Oh. Sorry I asked. _**///_^;;;**

Dragon Lady: _Heh heh heh …_***coughs*** _Well, uh…I don't know what to say here really…_

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Ken: _Do you ever?_

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Dragon Lady: **^^;;; **_Here's chapter Fourteen. Many thanks to all of my reviewers who have whined and moaned and pleaded for more, and who have stuck with me since I first started this story. And all of the newcomers who commented as well. To Bryn who is constantly pointing out how I should be updating about every story I have running now, and decided that when she came late into this story that she had to review every single chapter in it (_**o.o;;**_)._ _And special thanks to Ree for her email directing my attention once more to this story's half finished state._ **^^ **

Ken: _We owe you, Ree, big time._

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Dragon Lady: _Apologies for the past dueness (I don't think that's a word, but if Tolkien and Dr. Suess could make up words, then so can I dammit!) of this chapter, mina-san. I hope you enjoy._

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Trowa: _Remember to review._ **///_^**

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The 10th Kingdom

Adapted by: DigimonDragonLady 

Ken watched the enthusiastic villagers as they went about putting the finishing touches on the obstacle course. A tremor of excitement ran through the gathered crowd as they eagerly awaited the end of the competition. This competition would highlight the skills of the beautiful shepherdess Hikari and…well, the other contestant. Ken wrung his hands nervously.

The judge moved to the crude timer, which rather reminded Ken of a metronome, and gestured that Hikari should send her dog into the obstacle course. The count down had begun for Hikari. 

Ken was thankful that the Peep girl had been selected to go first, which possibly gave Osamu more time to come up with…whatever he was trying to do, but he was very afraid that this was only delaying his ultimate humiliation.

Hikari Peep led her dog with a series of whistles and commands, to guide the sheep into the pen and finished in a count of eighty-five. The judge had thought it splendid.

Ken wondered if they'd disqualify him for not having a dog. He couldn't see his brother anywhere, and he had no way in which to consult with him. Ken sighed. The judge was not going to go for a stall.

He resigned himself to his fate as the villagers moved his lamb to the other side of the village, and he could barely see it from where he stood. 

"Time starts now," the Judge said.

The timer began to move.

Oh, no, Ken thought. The lamb even had its back to him.

"Here lamb," Ken said desperately. "Here, lamb, come here."

The lamb, of course, didn't move. Ken could hear the little clicks of the clock as time went by, the sound bled into his subconscious and heightened the feeling of intense desperation in the pit of his stomach.

"Coming up on thirty," the Judge informed them.

Ken whistled and shouted as best he could, but the lamb didn't even seem to notice his efforts. The Peeps were beginning to chuckle. A few of the villagers walked away in thinly disguised disgust.

"Coming up to fifty."

Then Ken was distracted from his vain attempts at sheep herding by the sound of barking. He looked toward the edge of town and could just make out a golden retriever dog, with the sun shining on his glossy coat, racing at top speed toward the lamb. Ken could barely believe his eyes as he stared at the dog in amazement.

The lamb saw the dog too and scurried away from him toward the pen and Ken, running as fast as its little legs would carry it across the uneven cobblestones of the Little Lamb village.

There were murmurs and mutters from the townsfolk gathered, and the Peeps looked worried. 

"Where did that dog come from?!" Hikari demanded.

Ken was brought back to reality by her whining tone, and found his voice at last. "Go Prince, go!" he encouraged.

"Count of seventy," the Judge said.

The lamb tried to escape sideways, but Prince didn't let him. Prince shoved and nipped and bit at the lamb, forcing it relentlessly toward the pen. Ken stood watching intently, tense beyond believe. Prince was amazing, but would he be fast enough?

"Count of eighty," the Judge shouted.

They were so close.

"Eighty-one."

Prince got the lamb inside the pen, and Ken rushed forward.

"Eighty-two."

"Pen's closed," Ken gasped out, feeling an incredible relief sweep over him as the crudely constructed wooden gate swung shut, trapping the unhappy lamb inside.

"Eighty-three," the Judge said. "Ken Ichijouji wins this years contest by a margin of 2 counts!"

The villagers erupted into cheers and shouts. The celebration was raucous. They must have wanted the Peeps to loose for a very long time.

"It's not fair!" Hikari half whined, half shouted to all those who were listening to her over the happy roar. "Peeps always win!"

Ken shook his head sadly. Her display was so completely childish that he actually found himself pitying her, for a reason incomprehensible to even himself.

Ken hurried over to Prince Yamato, where the dog sat panting for breath, but still looking incredibly regal, and immensely pleased with himself. He hadn't realized how much he had missed the dog prince. Ken dropped to his knees and hugged him tightly, and Prince let him. "Well done, Prince," he thanked him gratefully, burying his face in the dog's ruff.

He watched out of the corner of his eye as Hikari Peep stormed off the stage and shouted something at one of the older Peep family members. Then she huffed away. 

"Come and get your prize, lad," the Judge suggested.

Ken blinked. The mirror!

In his excitement at seeing Prince Yamato alive, he had almost forgotten about it. He and Prince went across the stage, where his brother joined him.

Osamu was the one who made the speech. "Thank you, thank you," he said above the crowd, that was barely paying attention to him. "It was a team effort. No one person could have done it. Thank you."

The Judge handed Ken the mirror. It was heavier than he had expected, and he could see himself in the glass. He looked ridiculous, of course, in the shepherdess outfit (in his opinion it did clash horribly with his hair, and the color washed him out to almost pure white), but he didn't care anymore. 

He could finally go home.

* * *

Osamu could barely contain his elation. It had taken all of his self-control to keep from jumping through the mirror right then and there in the center of the crowd of villagers, but Ken got him quickly out of the area and led him back to the barn. Prince Yamato followed them.

Osamu yanked the barn door open and stepped inside. "Daisuke!" he yelled. "We got the mirror back!"

There was no answer. He peered around the entire area, but he didn't see Daisuke at all.

"He's gotten out," Ken said. He looked perplexed and more than a little worried as he stared at the frayed and broken rope that had slid down the barn post, to which he had tied Daisuke that morning, at the wolf's escape.

"Never mind that," Osamu said dismissively. "He'll be fine. Let's just get this mirror working, shall we?"

Ken leaned the mirror against a post. It just reflected their tired images. No magical scenes of Central Park, no nothing. Osamu's hands had gone clammy. Surely this was the mirror they had been hunting…it looked the same…

"Why isn't it showing our world?" he asked nervously.

"Because it's not turned on," Prince Yamato informed him. Every word that he had spoken since he had gotten de-golded, except for the insults he'd yelled at that poor lamb, had dripped sarcasm. "There's probably a secret catch somewhere."

Osamu started to examine the carved frame carefully. After a moment, Ken joined his brother in the search.

"How did you get through it in the first place?" Osamu asked.

Ken just sighed and shook his head. He had long ago resigned himself to the fact that Osamu was speaking aloud to a dog, that normal people could only discern barks and pants from, where as his brother could understand him in plain English.

"I fell on it," Prince replied. "The switch can't be that hard to find, if a good jar from me colliding with it somehow activated it."

Ken pressed part of the cornicing, and suddenly there was an audible click. The mirror started to vibrate slightly, and fizz like an ancient black and white television set. Osamu crouched, peering into the fuzzy image. It gradually came into focus, complete with color.

"That's it," Osamu said excitedly. 

"Central Park," Ken smiled in relief.

The image was becoming even clearer when suddenly Osamu heard terrible screams.

_Wolf! Wolf! _

It sounded like a woman's voice. Osamu looked at Ken. His brother had gone chalk white and seemed very alarmed and disturbed. Prince Yamato was already padding over toward the barn door, and Osamu and Ken followed.

As they stepped outside into the light, a distraught farmer was running into the town. He looked wild.

"Hikari Peep's been murdered!" he shouted.

A mob of angry, and hysterical Peeps followed him, dragging someone with them.

"We've got him," another farmer shouted. "We've got him."

It took Osamu a moment to see what was happening. Daisuke was in the center of that mob of Peeps, being dragged as they pulled him toward the center of the village. His gaze caught Osamu's momentarily and he mouthed -- or maybe he shouted, it was impossible to tell over the all of the noise -- _Help! Help me!_

"Caught him red-handed," the farmer shouted. "The murdering scum."

The crowd was too thick to get through. Ken started forward, but Osamu held him back. Daisuke struggled valiantly, but he couldn't get away.

"Burn him," the crowd shouted. "Burn the wolf!"

* * *

Ken paused just outside of the cell. He had never seen Daisuke look so utterly depressed. The wolf sat with his hands hanging between his knees and his head down. He was reading some book or other, but it was clear that he couldn't keep his mind on the book.

Ken didn't know how he could concentrate on anything with all the shouting and pounding outside. He would have thought the sounds of the chanting villagers would have been fainter in here. Instead it seemed like a constant drip of water: _Burn the Wolf! Burn the Wolf!_

He didn't know how to tell him what would happen next.

The turnkey let him into the cell. Daisuke looked up, and when he saw him, hope filled his eyes. He stood.

"Ken. There's been a terrible mistake. You have to believe me."

"Look, Daisuke," Ken started, but Daisuke continued talking on over him.

"How's my case progressing?" he asked.

Ken walked to the cell window and peered out. Daisuke came up beside him. The chanting villagers had mounted a wooden pole in the ground. Now they were dragging enough wood around it to create a bonfire.

Ken looked at Daisuke and saw the wolf wince. "Not too good, then," he murmured miserably.

"Daisuke, we're going home," he said softly.

If Ken thought Daisuke had looked depressed before, he realized that he looked worse now. "Huff-puff, you can't," Daisuke said pleadingly.

"We don't belong in this world," Ken continued, sounding like he was trying to convince himself more than Daisuke. "This hasn't got anything to do with us. All this trouble. Whatever mess you've gotten yourself into, it's…"

Daisuke's entire body shook, and he turned away from him. 

Ken put a hand to his mouth. He hadn't wanted to hurt Daisuke, but he knew that there was no choice. He didn't belong here, and Daisuke would have gotten into trouble like this before. In fact, he had. That was why he had been in Snow White Memorial Prison to begin with.

There was just nothing more he could do. Ken took a deep breath, steeling his resolve. "I'm sorry, but nothing you say can change my mind."

Daisuke didn't respond. He was still shaking and he refused to look at Ken.

"Oh, don't start to cry, please," Ken begged, helplessly, trying to keep the tears from coming to his own eyes. 

* * *

The mirror held him. He was completely transfixed with it. Central Park in all of its glory, if you wanted to call it that. If Osamu squinted his eyes, he could barely see a Mounds Bar wrapper crumpled up next to the path.

"Look, Prince," he said. "That's home."

Prince Yamato gave him a disdainful look. "Well, it's not home for me, Osamu," he said in disgust. "And how could you even think of going home while you remain my manservant and the only person, gods save my sanity, who can hear me speak?"

Osamu kept his attention focused on the mirror. "For the very last time," he said in frustration. "I am not your manservant. I don't know why I changed you back from gold. I was just getting used to a bit of peace and quiet."

"Peace and quiet?" Prince responded in disbelief. "It certainly wasn't peace and quiet for me. It was like being buried alive! I couldn't speak, I couldn't move, but guess what? I could hear everything, every insane, stupid comment you made."

Osamu froze. He hadn't realized that. "Everything?" he asked.

"Yes, everything," Prince repeated dully. "And make no mistake, Osamu, you really are the most boring man I have ever come across."

Osamu would have made some sort of response, but at that minute, the barn door opened and Ken stepped inside. He seemed subdued. Osamu didn't like that, but he knew Ken had grown fond of Daisuke. Saying good-bye must have been hard on him.

"Well, did you break the bad news?" Osamu asked.

"Yes," Ken agreed. Then bit his lip. "Well, sort of."

"Sort of what?" Osamu demanded with a suspicious groan.

"Sort of agreed to represent him," Ken muttered, not meeting his brother's eyes.

"Ken!" Osamu howled. 

Just when he could almost taste the hot dogs. Just when Central Park was within his reach, his brother decided to defend a felon.

"I don't think he killed anybody," Ken sounded defensive.

"That's what you want to think," Osamu told him in obvious frustration. "There's a dead girl out there Ken! He could have killed one of us. It could have been you. Daisuke's a wolf. The killer instinct is his nature. That's what wolves do!"

"I think that's the first intelligent thing I've heard you say, Osamu," Prince commented. The dog had never liked the wolf from the very beginning; probably because he still carried the grudge against him for trying to hunt him down for his step-mother. But that was beside the point.

"We've got the mirror now," Ken argued reasonably. "We can go home anytime we want."

"So lets go now," Osamu returned. He had to make this clear to Ken. "Now, this very minute. Before we get turned into giant pigs, or trodden on by goblins, or whatever else can that can happen in this madhouse happens!"

Ken narrowed his eyes in determination and crossed his arms. "I'm not leaving without at least trying to help him."

Osamu swore and shut off the mirror. Central Park vanished, along with his dreams of home. Ken had never acted like their mother before. And to be fair, he wasn't now. But he reminded Osamu of their mother all the same.

He grabbed the mirror and looked over his shoulder. They were alone in the barn. Then he lifted the mirror and put it in the back of an old wagon Prince Yamato had discovered earlier. With both hands working at the task, he began covering it up with straw.

But no matter how hard he tried to bite his tongue, he couldn't seem to keep quiet.

"You never used to be this obstinate," he told Ken sourly. "That's something he's taught you."

"Yes." Ken's gaze met his. "But somebody had to, didn't they?"

* * * 

The courtroom doubled as the village council chamber. Ken had learned that when he tried to learn as much as he could of what was expected of him as Daisuke's legal council. He was waiting outside the closed courtroom door, holding his argument in one hand, and his wig in the other.

He adjusted the black cloak he was wearing and then put on the lambs wool wig. He had seen such wigs in British movies where the characters went to court, but he had never imagined that he would be wearing one.

It took a moment for his brother to notice. "What are you wearing?" Osamu asked.

"I didn't have any choice," Ken said. "You have to." He sounded more defensive than he wanted to, but honestly, after having subjected himself to that shepherdess dress, this was far from humiliating.

"You don't know the first thing about the law here," Osamu hissed at him, still trying to get Ken to give his defense idea up as foolishness. "Or anywhere, come to that. I should have represented him, I'd know more about it than you."

"Who got you off those parking tickets?" Ken reminded him. "Who took the Polaroid showing the broken parking meter?"

"Ken, this is a murder case. NOT a parking violation. I could hardly have gotten the death penalty for that."

"That's not the point." Ken said a little grumpily. "Just is universal."

At that moment, two guards brought Daisuke to him in shackles. He didn't seem as depressed as he had the previous day -- the fact that Ken had stayed to defend him had lifted his spirit a bit -- but he still looked terrible. Ken was sure that he hadn't slept at all.

"It's no good," Daisuke told him sadly. "We've lost already. The local jury is sure to be biased against me."

"Now that is exactly what I don't want to hear. Negative thinking." Ken told him sternly. Then he pushed open the door to the court room, still talking to Daisuke. "Any jury can be swayed, all you need do is present the right evidence and --"

Ken couldn't even finish his sentence. The courtroom smelled like wet wool, and twelve sheep were sitting in the jury box.

"You've got to be kidding," he groaned at the sight, and Daisuke didn't loose his worried expression.

Ken led Daisuke through the tiny, packed courtroom to the defense table. The place was full of Peeps, and they all looked alike. It gave Ken the creeps. He was sure he couldn't even begin to imagine how Daisuke felt.

The clerk of the court called out, "All rise for the honorable Judge."

The Judge entered, took stock of the crowd, and then sat down. Everyone else sat as well.

The session was gaveled into order. Then he leaned forward and said, "It gives me no great pleasure to sentence this wolf to death for the terrible crime which he committed."

Ken was shocked. He jumped to his feet in outrage. "Objection, Your Honor! We haven't heard any evidence yet."

"Oh, all right then," the Judge said with a sigh. "But move it along, nice and brisk, please."

That surprised Ken. The whole thing surprised Ken, but he stood shakily and walked to the jury box, trying not to sneeze as the smell of wet wool grew stronger.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury." Ken began, and then paused before continuing, "Er…ewes and rams, before you leave this courtroom today, I will not only have proven my client's innocence beyond any reasonable doubt, but also unmasked the true killer."

Ken was beginning to get into this. He turned to the Judge with a flourish, and then realized that he hadn't been paying any attention at all. He was talking with an usher.

"Just a pot of lemon tea," the Judge was saying, "and a slice of Rosie Peep's ginger cake, thank you."

Ken waited until he was done before going on. "Look at this poor man before you. Is he a wolf? No! He's a stranger. And stranger equals wolf and wolf equals killer -- is that what we're trying to say here?"

"Very well put." The Judge beamed at him. "Now to sentencing."

"Your Honor, I'm only just beginning," Ken frowned at him. "I'd like to call my first witness."

The Judge sighed again. "Well, all right. Get on with it then."

* * *

Ken was acting out parts he'd seen on television. Osamu knew this because he'd watched he same shows with him. His brother was currently interrogating Wilfred Peep, trying to prove that he couldn't have identified Daisuke in the dark.

Only his trick wasn't working. He wanted the older Peep to read from a small card, trying to prove that his eyesight was bad, and the other Peeps were mouthing the information to him behind Ken's back.

The Judge appeared convinced of Daisuke's guilt -- and Osamu wasn't so sure he was wrong -- and he was commiserating with the Peeps instead of listening to the evidence that Ken was trying desperately to present to him.

This was all rigged, and no matter how hard Ken tried, he wasn't going to succeed. Osamu had seen that from the moment he and Prince Yamato had taken their seats in one of the rows farthest back.

Now he was feeling a little guilty that he had told Ken to give this up. His brother was the only one who was willing to try and help Daisuke. If they had left the wolf here to his fate, he'd be burning by now.

Osamu shuddered and then turned to Yamato. "We've got to do something to help him," he whispered.

Prince Yamato only shook his shaggy head. "Absolutely not. He's a wolf, what did you expect? You said it yourself, Osamu, the killer instinct is in his blood. 'That's what wolves do.' He's only done exactly what I said he'd do all along, you're just lucky that it wasn't Ken."

"But Ken believes in him," Osamu persisted. "Ken believes in him, and, well, I _want _to believe in him." 

Osamu started to stand. Prince Yamato gave him a withering look that was somehow more effective coming from that dog face.

"Nothing you can say," Yamato said imperiously, "will make me help him."

"Then I'll do it myself," Osamu whispered back, and slid out of the row. After a moment of hesitation, Prince Yamato followed him. 

Osamu led Prince Yamato outside and down the street until they reached the edge of the Peep farm. He walked until he found the murder site. It wasn't as hard to find as he thought it would be. Hikari Peep's outline had been marked in paint, complete with her crook.

They were nothing, if not thorough.

Osamu stood over the spot and looked at Prince Yamato. Yamato seemed a little confused.

"What can you smell?" Osamu asked Prince.

"Your body odor," Prince replied dryly.

Osamu crossed his arms. He was going to help Daisuke, and he was going to use Prince Yamato to do it. 

"You haven't even tried," Osamu said, imitating Yamato's imperious tone. "Go on and see what you can smell."

"Why don't you get down on all fours and see what you can smell," Prince grumbled.

Osamu glared at him. Yamato sighed and then, reluctantly, bent his head down and sniffed.

"Can you pick up a scent?" Osamu asked.

"There are hundreds of scents," Yamato replied irritably.

"Yes, but surely only a great hunting Prince like yourself would be able to distinguish that special scent that we're looking for."

"Correct!" Prince Yamato raised his head suddenly, his tail wagging in excitement. He had obviously smelled something. He took off as fast as his four dog legs could carry him. 

And Osamu ran after him, too elated to shout at Yamato to slow down.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Dragon Lady:_ Well, we left poor Daisuke in a bad way._

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Ken: _Yes, you did. You made me sound really cruel too._ **=P**

Dragon Lady: **^^;; **_Sorry. It was part of the story. _

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Trowa: _So…you've got another chapter on this coming soon, right?_

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Dragon Lady: _Probably now that I've started up on it again and gotten past the complete unluckiness of chapter 13._ **^.~**

Ken: ***grumbles* **_Excuses, excuses._

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Trowa: _I didn't know you were superstitious, dl._

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Ken: _She's not. _**_**

Trowa: _Oh._** ///_^;;**

Dragon Lady: **^^;;;**

Ken: _Don't forget to review._

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Trowa: _And remember, readers, you can't lynch dl for the "past dueness" of this chapter until after she's finished all of the story, otherwise you'll never get to read the end. But you're more than welcome to come after her once it's done._

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Dragon Lady: **o.o;;; **_Trowa! Don't tell them that!_

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Ken: _Well, maybe lynching her would be a little harsh, but tar and feathering at the very least, don't you think?_

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Dragon Lady: _Ken! You people wouldn't really do that to me, would you? _***attempts to speak plaintively and look innocent* **_I mean, really, would you? _**^^;**

Ken: ***can be seen gathering chicken feathers***

Dragon Lady: ***gulps* o.o;;; **_Meep. _


End file.
